Friends
by Draconic Caduceus
Summary: I got inspiration for this odd story when I was doing my homework and listening to my ipod. Jazz is back YAY! How, I'm not sure, but he becomes friends with a girl named Katie. Rather uninteresting summary, eh?
1. Katie

**Note: I don't own Transformers, only Katie. I also don't own the songs I used in this story nor the ones that inspired them. That is all. **

**This was just a random little story I thought up when I was doing my homework and listening to my ipod. If you feel like blaming them, the songs were "Friends" and "Flying with Angels" by Na Leo Pilimehana. ;;**

**It was originally supposed to be a short little story, but… it turned into something big, especially when I went to eat lunch. --;;**

_Music_

'Sign language/type-speak'

"**Speaking in car-mode"**

"Regular speaking/speaking in robot-mode"

'_Thoughts'_

--

_You're flying with angels  
__Above us all and I'll be here  
__To catch you if you fall  
__If others leave you, you know I'll stay  
__My dreams will whisper to you  
__And guide your way  
__So sleep my darlin'  
__One kiss goodnight  
__Another song awaits you  
__With rising eyes_

"**Must you play that song?"** Katie smiled slightly.

Without taking her eyes off the road, she found the laptop that was plugged into Jazz's radio at her side. After months of practice, she was able to type one-handed while driving with minimal mistakes. 'No, not really, but I do like it. Don't you?'

The silver Solstice grunted. **"No."**

Katie made the sound he had come to associate as her laugh, and patted his dashboard. 'How about this?' Taking her eyes off the deserted road for a few seconds, she pulled out her ipod and adjusted the songs and hit play.

_And friends are friends forever  
__If the Lord's a Lord of them  
__And a friend will not say "never"  
_'_Cause the welcome will not end  
__Thought it's hard to let you go  
__In the Father's hands we know  
__That a lifetime's not too long  
__To live as friends._

Jazz's engine growled, showing his obvious dislike for the music, but he didn't change it. **"What's with all the depressing music all of a sudden, Katie?"** he asked as they pulled into her driveway. He cut the engine while she grabbed her purse, ipod, and laptop and climbed out.

Jazz transformed as she placed the items on the porch.

Her house was in the middle of nowhere, blocked by a rather large hill so he didn't have to worry about nosy neighbors seeing him. With a sigh, he settled himself down, leaning against a well-placed sturdy tree and waited as Katie trotted over to him.

'It's a special day today,' she signed to him. 'One of the best days of my life.'

Random Flashback:

_He had found it odd when she first "bought" him from the dealer. She said absolutely nothing to him, writing the price down on a piece of paper as if she was too high and mighty to talk to the dealer. The dealer, obviously thinking along the same lines as Jazz grumbled loudly but finally settled on a price with the girl, shaking her hand almost reluctantly. _

_And so Jazz was taken to her home in a nice part of the city, with a nice lawn leading to a nice creamy-white house with a tan trim, and a nice neat garage. It wasn't until she gave him his first carwash did he realize that she wasn't very quiet; she was mute._

_One of the neighborhood jerks had come by to harass her while she was cleaning his passenger-side door. _

"_Hey, Freak!" she didn't answer him, pretending he wasn't there with the ease of long practice. "Don't ignore me, you mute weirdo." He pushed her hard, sending her sprawling, knocking over her bucket of soapy water and spilling it all over the driveway and herself. _

_Jazz had considered doing something when he had first started tormenting her, like backing into him or slamming a door into his side, but decided not to. It wasn't until he called her a "mute weirdo" that he became angry._

_Katie hadn't been mean or cruel to him; she was very gentle, not yanking and tugging on cords and cables when checking on his engine, or scrubbing hard with the sponge on tender spots. She took very good care of his interior, and despite being with her for a few weeks, there wasn't a scratch on him; if she found one she waxed it out within a day. She played nice music in him, and if he acted up, she simply frowned but didn't force him to do anything; if he refused to start, she took the bus or a taxi to run her errands._

_When the jerk had pushed her down, he was angry. When he pushed her again when she tried to get up, he was downright pissed. His door shot open, slamming him hard in the back. He would've fallen on Katie, had she not flipped over on her back and kicked up with her surprisingly strong legs. She scrambled up, and faced him warily, watching as he swayed and coughed, winded. Wheezing, he turned tail and ran._

_Thoroughly shaken, she had sunk to her knees, resting her head on his front wheel and not caring that her auburn hair turned darker with the mud and soap on the tires. After a minute or so, she stood and refilled the bucket. She eyed the drying soap on his hood and sighed, spraying it down. She put the hose down and hesitated._

'_Thank you.' she signed, almost feeling like an idiot, but also feeling obligated to thank her car even if it _was_ inanimate. She made an odd sound, and Jazz had realized she had chuckled. 'I feel stupid talking to you like this, but you did save my sorry behind. It's almost like you're alive.' She ran a hand over the water sliding down his chassis and got to work scrubbing the dried soap off._

_Jazz had taken a few minutes to translate the motions before turning his wheel to "face" her. __**"Yer welcome, and I **_**am**_** alive."**_

_She had jumped, looking down at him. 'Am I dreaming this?'_

"_**No."**__ was the grumpy reply and she smiled slightly._

'_Just making sure.' She signed back and continued washing him._

End Random Flashback:

Their friendship had started there, and soon escalated until Jazz found himself telling her everything about him. She proved to be a very good listener, sitting in his passenger seat for hours at a time, listening to whatever stories he had to share.

She hardly shared any stories with him, for she hardly talked; only listened. She took everything in stride and never once questioned him about anything he had to say.

Katie had given up so much for him: she had quit her job in the city and moved to a house in the middle of nowhere so he could transform and walk around as much as he liked. She pretty much severed all ties to her family and friends and bought him whatever he needed.

He was drawn from his memories when she sat in front of him. "What day is that? I'm sure you have many days that make you happy." Not for the first time Jazz saw the shadow flash across her face, but it was hidden by a smile.

'This is exactly one year after I met you.' she signed to him.

"Nah. You can't possibly be happy about meeting an old grumpy goose like me." Jazz said flatly. "I'm surprised you can put up with someone so harsh."

Katie made her odd chuckling sound. 'No, you're not grumpy. You're just scarred and sad. Like me. The day I met you was probably the best day of my life.' Then she hesitated, looking down at her hands. Jazz knew that pose: she had something to say but didn't know if she should say it.

He filed away what she said about being scarred to ask her at a later time and pressed a clawed finger against her back. "What do you want to say?"

She hesitated, and then when she signed, she did so in a rush as if she was afraid of how he'd react. 'I was thinking. You're such good company to me, but I haven't known you for more than a year. I was thinking about how your friends must feel. The Autobots, correct? They think you're dead, do they not? Why not go back to them to say "Hey, guys, I'm alive" and meet up with them? I'm sure they miss you very much. I know I would.'

"That is none of your business." Never before had he spoken to her in such a way, and she ducked her head, looking down at the ground.

'I know, I'm sorry. I just thought…'

"You thought wrong! I don't want to go back to them! I don't want to _fight _anymore." Jazz roared, burying a clawed fist into the ground next to her and she flinched. Then he realized that she wasn't shaking in fear; she was crying.

'I'm sorry,' she signed again and getting up, she ran to her house where she let herself in and locked the door behind her.

"Katie," he whispered, realizing what he had done too late. She emerged a few minutes later, carrying a large box wrapped in silver and gold wrapping paper, the kind that she had been complaining that it was so expensive. She said nothing to him, placing the box on the ground near his foot and turning, walked away.

Feeling a tightening in his spark, he gingerly lifted the box and read the card.

'_For you, Jazz. I hope you like it. Katie.'_

Her usually neat handwriting was shaky, and there were wet splotches that smeared some of the ink. Feeling that tightening in his spark, he opened the wrapping paper carefully, untying the fragile gold ribbon and peeling the delicate paper off the box. He pulled the lid off and stared at its contents.

The first thing that caught his eye was a bulky bundle which he carefully lifted. He paused when the tips of his claws brushed the material covering it. Gently, he tugged it off and stared at it. It was his favorite type of chamois, one of the best kinds and the most expensive. The item was wrapped in three more, and he stared at the bulky item.

Katie was an amateur artist, but it was obvious that she had worked for a long time at this. It was a small statuette of him with a goofy grin on his face. She had most likely gotten the pose from a picture she had of him. The next thing she had was an album large enough for him to hold. In the tough leather, his name was stamped and painted in gold. Opening it, he found that she had filled it with pictures of the two of them on their travels.

He looked up at the sound of the door closing. The front door was closed and he figured that Katie had gone out the back. Checking his chronometer, he grimaced. This was usually when she came out to talk with him after a nightmare. Of what, she never said, but she seemed to take comfort in talking with him.

Carefully, he put the statuette, chamois, and album back in the box and subspaced it, walking quietly around the house. He stopped halfway and transformed, activating his hologram and sending it the rest of the way.

Katie, observant as she was, noticed him right away and got up from the tree swing and began walking toward the house. She was at the door, her hand on the doorknob when Jazz started up the steps to the porch.

"Wait, Katie." She hesitated, then slowly closed the door and went to sit with him on the stairs. "I- I'm sorry."

Silence, not that he expected her to say anything. Instead she reached out a hand and gently squeezed his. She forgave him.

--  
**Songs used in order:  
"Flying with Angels" by Na Leo Pilimehana  
"Friends" by Na Leo Pilimehana**


	2. Stubborn

_We came in spastic  
__Like tame-less horses  
__We left in plastic  
__As numbered corpses_

"**Can you… Katie, can you please skip to another part?"** Katie looked down at the dashboard, and sensing her friend's distress, obeyed.

_We had no cameras  
__To shoot the landscape  
__We passed the hash pipe  
__And played our Doors tapes  
__And it was dark  
__So dark at night  
__And we held on to each other  
__Like brother to brother  
__We promised our mothers we'd write  
__And we would all go down together  
__We said we'd all go down together  
__Yes we would all go down together._

Jazz moaned and Katie turned off the music, pulling over as she did so. She bit her lip then changed the songs.

_When you feel all alone  
__And the world has turned its back on you  
__Give me a moment please to tame your wild, wild heart  
__I know that you feel like the walls are closing in on you  
__It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold  
__When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take it anymore_

'I'm sorry.' She typed into the laptop, sitting quietly in the seat.

"**It's okay,"** Jazz murmured, starting up his engine once more. **"Let's go."**

'Where?' she typed as Jazz pulled on to the highway.

"**You'll see."**

-

Katie didn't complain as he took over, nor when he drove out of town to the middle of nowhere. She occupied herself with taking pictures of the landscape, looking at the blurry pictures and saving those she liked. Eventually Jazz slowed down and she looked up to find that they were coming toward what looked like a military checkpoint.

She packed away her camera and was digging for her license and reaching for her vehicle registration when the hand of Jazz's hologram caught hers. **"Don't. Tell them that I'm an Autobot and just give them your ID."** He slowed to a stop and faded away as two armed army men walked out in the baking heat towards her.

When he pulled to a stop, she opened the door and carrying her stuff, climbed out. "Stay where you are, ma'am. May I see your license and registration, please?"

Wordlessly, Katie juggled her stuff and handed over her ID as Jazz had told her to. She took a few steps away from Jazz and placed her laptop (thankfully in its case) on the ground with her ipod and opened her purse, reaching for her notebook and pen.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but this is private military property and I need to see your registration." The lighter-skinned one said, trying to look intimidating and succeeding to some degree. Ignoring him, Katie began to write.

'My name is Katie, and I was asked to come here. Rather, I was driven here. My car is an Autobot and his name is Jazz. I'm not sure why we're here, but he told me to tell you about him and so I am.' She extended the notebook to him and the army man tightened his grip on his rifle, obviously irritated.

"Miss, please go in your car and leave. This is private property." The darker man said, hefting his rifle. The silver Solstice's engine growled and they jumped.

Katie brought her notebook back and wrote something else in big, bold letters: 'I'M MUTE'. She extended it, gesturing at the bold lettering that spanned across half of the page.

The army man didn't even glance at it. "Miss, this is your last warning." Trying to be intimidating and scare her, they cocked their rifles.

The engine roared this time and a deep voice echoed over to them. **"Stop being dumb asses and read the damn notebook."**

This time Katie shoved it into the chest of the army man in front of her and he read it. He looked at the car. "Please come out of the car with your hands in the air or we will shoot." Katie squeaked when they pointed their rifles at the car, putting her hands to her mouth.

The tires turned to "face" her like it had a year ago. **"Don't worry, Katie. They can't hurt me; they don't have saber rounds in those guns."** With that, he transformed and loomed over the two guards who immediately dropped their guns. "My name is Jazz and I'm an Autobot. Will you let us through _now_?"

"Jazz?" Katie turned to see a yellow mech slightly smaller than him standing near the gates, a thoroughly surprised look on his face. "Is that you?"

Jazz turned and looked at him for a moment, hesitating. "Yes. It's me."

He leapt forward, steps shaking the earth and embraced Jazz tightly.

-

Katie smiled sadly, watching as her friend talked with his old comrades. His stiffness had disappeared, and he was more at ease with them. He was now recounting one of their more amusing adventures, involving the police, fire department, a bunch of ambulances, a few helicopters, and some paint.

No one noticed her as she packed up her things up – not even the other humans called Sam and Mikaela. She swung her laptop case on her back and her purse over her shoulders before casting a last glance at the Autobots. She left her camera for Jazz with a small note and left.

No one noticed her leave, save for the guards at the gate. She handed them each a note and walked out into the desert. When she was far enough away, she turned on her ipod and hummed to the music.

_She follows the path of least resistance  
__She doesn't care to see the mountain top  
__She twists and turns with no regard to distance  
__She never comes to a stop_

_And she rolls, she's a river  
__Where she goes, time will tell  
__Heaven knows, he can't go with her  
__And she rolls, all by herself  
__All by herself_

She paused slightly, watching as a green Hummer drove down the road toward her. She stepped off the road, and slowed when the Hummer slid to a gentle stop just in front of her. The driver poked his head out and cautiously, Katie stepped closer. She stopped when she noticed the red insignia – which Sam had told her showed that they were Autobots – and looked up to meet the eyes of the "driver"

Katie slung her earphones around her neck and pulled out her notebook and pen. She scribbled that she was mute and showed it to the "driver" who nodded. She put the notebook back in her bag along with her pen, then faced the Hummer. 'You must be Ratchet. They're expecting you back at the base.' Katie signed to his obvious surprise. She smiled slightly, hoping that it looked more sincere than sad. 'There's someone who wants to see you; Mikaela was saying that you were rather sad about him. You'd better hurry.'

"Wait," he called when Katie started to walk away. "Can I give you a ride somewhere? It's not safe for a human to be walking around in the desert alone."

Katie smiled. 'No, I'm fine but thank you for the generous offer. Everyone told me that no one comes down this road, so I'll be fine, and I have a while of daylight left. I should make it back to town before nightfall if I walk fast. Go back to the base; I'll be fine.'

With that, she walked away. She only put her ear phones back on when she heard his engine rev then die down as he drove away.

_It's been a long road  
__Getting 'from there to here  
__It's been a long time  
__But my time is finally here  
__And I can feel the change in me right now  
__Nothing's in my way  
__And they're not gonna hold me down no more  
__No they're not gonna hold me down_

_Cause I've got faith of the heart  
__I'm going where my heart will take me  
__I've got faith to believe  
__I can do anything  
__I've got strength of the soul  
__No one's gonna bend nor break me  
__I can reach any star  
__I've got faith  
__I've got faith  
__Faith of the heart_

Katie walked on at a steady pace, resting often so as to not get heatstroke. So lost in her music, she didn't notice the yellow and black Camaro until it pulled in front of her and stopped. Frowning, she followed suit and watched as it backed up to "face" her.

"There you are!" he said without preamble, and Katie realized that it was the mech called Bumblebee. "Jazz has been throwing tantrums 'cause he can't find you!"

'Really?' she signed back and Bumblebee revved his engine in irritation.

"He nearly strangled Ratchet for not bringing you back and stepped on Lennox and Epps for letting you wander in the desert," Katie assumed Lennox and Epps were the guards outside. "So come on. Get in."

Katie stood there for a moment as Bumblebee opened his doors for her. It worried her slightly that Jazz was acting up like that, but he had done the same to her when they had first met. 'No.' she signed back.

Bumblebee's engine revved angrily. "Why not?" he asked with a resigned sigh.

'He's happier when he's back with you guys.' She explained. 'I want him to be happy more than I want myself to be happy, and if making him happy means leaving him like this, then so be it.'

Bumblebee was quiet for a few minutes. "You really care about him, don't you?"

'He's the best friend I've had in my entire life, and the only creature – human or otherwise – that cared about if I was dead or alive, or even if I was feeling okay. I owe him a great deal.'

"By breaking his spark like this? I doubt it." Bumblebee snapped back

'I'm not breaking his spark. If anyone's going to be hurting from this, it's going to be _me_.' Katie could feel the raw tears gathering behind her eyes. 'Just leave be me.'

Katie started to walk around the yellow and black car, only to be stopped when it backed up and placed itself in her way. "No. Jazz is livid, and won't calm down. He's already tried to get out of the base to come and get you. Just get in so I can take you back so Jazz won't have to be sedated."

Katie reached down and picked up a rock the side of her fist. She started to walk away and once more, Bumblebee backed up until he was stoutly in front of her. Gripping the stone tightly and feeling the sharp edges dig into her hand she flung it with all her might at his windshield. 'Just go away and leave me alone.' With that, she stalked past him. This time he didn't follow; rather he drove sullenly back to the base.

_I catch the glimmer of your face across the sky  
__I watch the setting sun and I begin to cry  
__Because I miss you, my Hawaii  
__I rest my head upon the sands of Waikiki  
__I close my eyes and hear you calling me  
__How I miss you, my Hawaii_

Katie sighed, stopping to rest at a shady rock formation, listening to the familiar song. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and rested.

--

**Songs used in order:  
"Goodnight Saigon" by Billy Joel (first two)  
"Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden  
"The River and the Highway" by Pam Tillis  
"Faith of the Heart" by Rod Stewart  
"I Miss You, My Hawaii" by Na Leo Pilimehana**


	3. Bad

Sullenly, Bumblebee drove into the base, transforming gingerly so as to not irritate the bloody crack on his windshield which was already beginning to heal.

It made an odd sight indeed. Sam and Mikaela were safe on a berth, while Optimus and Ironhide held the arms of the struggling Jazz. Ratchet himself stood in front of all three, a portable med-scanner in his hands.

"Jazz, just calm down and hold still so I can scan you and make sure everything is in order." Ratchet said placating, trying to get the silver mech to hold still.

"I'm fine, damn it! I've been harkin' all over th' place for a year an' I didn' do no fightin'! I'm in tip-top shape an' meanwhile Katie's out there _in the desert_!" Bumblebee cleared his vocal processor, drawing the others' attention, though Optimus and Ironhide didn't loosen their grip on Jazz's arms.

"She doesn't want to come back." Jazz's movements stopped, and he stared at Bumblebee. "She says that she wants him to be happy, so she's leaving. She threw a rock at me."

Jazz smiled slightly. "That's Katie fer ya. Won't do nothin' she doesn't want to." He sat down on the berth, and Ratchet walked forward, scanning him quickly. "I'm gonna go after her."

"No." Ratchet said idly, putting the scanner away. "_I'll_ go talk to her."

Without waiting for a reply, he transformed and drove out.

-

Katie opened an eye and watched as the green Hummer slid to a gentle stop, its front tire inches from her foot. "No, I'm not going to ask you to come with me back to the base," Ratchet said as she raised her hands.

'Then why are you here?' she asked calmly.

"I just want to talk with you." he replied, warily looking for any rocks that she could throw at him. There were a few piled up near her hip, and their size made him uneasy.

To his relief, she didn't reach for them. 'About what?'

"I don't know. Tell me about yourself." He activated his hologram and directed it to sit in front of her. He chose a rather young light-skinned man with blue eyes and light brown hair.

Katie hesitated. 'My name is Katie, and I'm twenty-nine, thirty at the beginning of next year. I'm a journalist, amateur photographer, and an artist. Is there anything else you'd like to know?'

"How did you come across Jazz?"

'I had just got a job and decided to celebrate by buying a new car. A Pontiac Solstice caught my eye and I got it. I didn't get to know him until he defended me against an old nuisance.'

"Were you born mute?" Katie winced. "I'm sorry; I'm told often that I don't have any tact, especially when it comes to medicine."

'It's okay,' Katie signed back. 'No, I wasn't born mute.' Personally, she hoped that he'd give up, but if he asked about how she became mute, she'd tell him even if she didn't want to. That's why she winced again when he asked the question she was dreading.

"How did you become mute, then? An accident?"

'No, the only accident was that I was born,' she signed grimly. 'I don't want to talk about it right now.'

"Understood," they sat in silence for a while, and at last Katie looked at the sky.

'It's getting late. I suppose I should go back with you, then.' She signed at last, wincing as a small but sharp pain jerked her hand.

"Let me see." The hologram demanded and with a raised eyebrow, she surrendered the hand after taking a quick look at it herself. "Now why didn't I notice this earlier?" Katie tugged on her hand, and Ratchet raised a holographic eyebrow. Katie waved her other hand in a pantomime of sign language and reluctantly he released it.

'I've gotten very good at hiding injuries,' she signed before offering her hand back to Ratchet who took it gently and began to clean it out using his hologram.

"I'd ask you why, but I'm cleaning out your hand." He grumbled and one-handed, she pulled out her laptop and flicking it open, began to type.

'I don't want to talk about it now.' Ratchet glanced at it.

"I see. Later, then, perhaps?" Katie gave him an odd look but nodded, taking her hand back and thanking him. "Do you need to stop at your house? I think I can get us there and back to the base in time, and I believe it will be safer for you and Jazz at the base than driving around in the middle of the night."

'Yes, please. Thank you.' Katie packed her things and climbed into his passenger seat, settling herself down as Ratchet began to drive. Occasionally, she tapped his hologram on the shoulder and pointed to where he should turn until they came to her modest little house in the middle of nowhere. 'I'll only be a few minutes.' She promised, and walked quickly into the house.

-

The door shut behind her with a gentle click, and Katie paused. Something wasn't right.

Her house was dead silent; she was sure that if someone dropped a pin upstairs she'd hear it like standing next to the speakers at a rock concert. She whistled a short tune and waited for the jingling bell that heralded the arrival of her cat Snowy. Dead silence. Cautiously, she walked into the next room and looked into the big bird cage near the window. She voiced a different sound, one she knew the big parrot would always react to. It didn't twitch.

Okay. Big Bertha the parrot was dead but how… she didn't want to think about it. Snowy could've gotten stuck somewhere, but even if that happened (and it wasn't likely) the zebra finches in the next room should be making an unholy racket of shrieking, chirping, and rattling of the cage. It was silent, and Katie didn't dare look.

Anxiously, she backed up then crept upstairs where she hurriedly packed a bag of clothes and necessities, exchanging her dusty clothes for cleaner, more presentable ones. As silently as she could, she crept back downstairs, not liking the feeling of dread that followed her. She found that her shoulders were in tight knots and her eyes flicked everywhere, trying to find the source of the silence.

Chills spread down her spine as she stalked into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, and she stopped suddenly, eyeing the silver boom box that rested (it seemed to her rather smug) on her dining room table. She stopped. Something – some sort of inner instinct or memory – told her to run away, or at the very least don't go any further.

Carefully, Katie took a step back; the same instinct told her to not turn her back on the boom box. Two steps back confirmed her fears; it twitched, then a small part lifted and turned to look at her with a big blue eye.

Immediately, she turned and ran toward the door, thankful that it opened outwards, getting out in time to be tackled from behind by something metal. Katie didn't have time to react; she tumbled down the stairs of her porch and tumbled until she cracked her head painfully on the sidewalk.

Immediately, stars burst behind her eyes and her vision grew hazy, then black and she knew no more.


	4. Truth

"_You stupid, _worthless_ child!" whimpering, she cowered, putting her forehead on her bent knees and her arms around the back of her head. She wriggled, trying to get herself into the safety of a corner. She cried out when a kick hit her in the side, sending her sprawling over. She scrambled into a more protective position as the wooden spoon her assailant wielded hit her across her shoulders, back, and head._

"_Please! Stop, Mama!" she cried, tears streaming down her face faster as the fury of the barrage increased._

"_How. Many. Times. Do. I. Have. To. Tell. You?!" Each word was punctuated by a slap, kick, or hit by the frying pan she had exchanged the wooden spoon for. "I. Don't. __**EVER**__. Want. To. Hear. Your. Voice. __**AGAIN**__!"_

_Whimpering, she ducked her head again, taking the hit on her arms instead of her head. "Yes, Mama. I'll never talk again. I promise, Mama, I'll never talk again." She whispered, crying out whenever she was hit but not saying anything._

-

"Katie? Katie!" a gentle hand shook her awake, and her eyes snapped open. Blearily, she looked up, blinking a few times to focus them. A tan-skinned man leaned anxiously over her, a hand resting gently on her cheek. Unnaturally golden eyes looked at her worriedly, and long black hair hung from his head as he looked down at her.

She raised her hands to sign, but they were shaking too hard to form any coherent signs. With a wordless cry that sounded a lot like "Jazz!" she threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing. Surprised at first, Jazz had stiffened and scared, she started to pull away, but Jazz caught her and pulled her back.

"Easy, Kat. Come on, little Kitty; it's all right." He said, rubbing her back gently. He'd never seen her cry, and frankly, it downright scared him.

"Jazz, what happened?" Ratchet asked, running over. Seeing the hologram on the berth, her activated his and made it walk quickly over. Katie heard him coming and flinched away from his touch, starting to wail.

"Come now, little Kitty; it's only Ratchet." Ratchet looked at Jazz after hearing the soft way he talked to the sobbing human, gently rubbing her back. "I don' know. One second she was sleeping peacefully, an' the next she was screamin' her head off!" Ratchet looked worried. He went to a small kit near the edge of the berth and pulled out a human-sized syringe. "Ratch', what's that?" Jazz asked warily as he approached.

"You need to hold her still, Jazz," Ratchet said, gently swabbing Katie's arm with alcohol. "I'm going to sedate her and put her in one of the human rooms to rest."

"It was a _nightmare_, Ratch'!" Jazz snapped. "If you put her back to sleep, what're the chances that she'll have it again?"

"She won't have it again because she's just going to black out," Ratchet snapped back. "Now hold her still." Gently, Ratchet grabbed her arm and Katie started wailing and thrashing.

"Kitty, kitty! Easy," Jazz said, holding her tighter and trying to soothe her.

To make things worse, Ironhide came running in. "What's that noise?!" he roared, which caused Katie to wail even louder.

Jazz, sensing that he caused her more distress, pushed him out of the bay and locked the doors. "Sorry, Little Kitty, but this'll help ya." He murmured, grabbing her arm and holding it still in a vice-like grip. Quickly, Ratchet pierced the skin with the needle and pushed the plunger down. When he was done, he wiped the area with a cotton swab and sat back.

"Done. She should knock out in less than a minute." Jazz nodded and Ratchet's hologram disappeared. The medic himself went to clean up the rest of the bay.

"I'll take her to a room," Jazz said quietly, lifting her gingerly in his clawed hand and walked out, ignoring the worried looks of Ironhide and Ratchet as he passed them.

'I don't want to sleep.' Katie managed to sign drowsily as he placed her gently on the cot.

"It's okay, Kitty," Katie smiled slightly at the nickname; he was the only one that she allowed to call her that. "I'll be right here."

Katie hesitated. 'Promise?'

Jazz pulled the blanket over her gently. "I promise. Go to sleep, now, Kitty. I'll be here when you wake up."

Katie was silent for a while, and it was obvious to Jazz that she was fighting the sedative. She sat us lethargically and reached for her back which Jazz had placed near her bed. She dragged the zipper open and pulled out her notebook which she handed to Jazz. 'Read.' She signed wearily and (so it seemed to Jazz) reluctantly. Without waiting for a response, she gave up fighting the drug and dropped back on the bed.

Jazz put the notebook on the side and using his holoform, gently rearranged Katie on the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. Only then did he pick up the notebook and open it. On the first page, as was her tradition, was a hand-drawn portrait. This one was of him, leaning against the hill next to her house in recharge-mode. Ignoring the urge to strangle Ratchet for letting her get hurt by Frenzy like that, he turned the page gently when something at the top of the page caught his eye.

'The best person in my life.' Jazz blinked his eyes; he never knew Katie felt that way about him. He turned the page and found more writing.

_'And she rolls (and he rolls)  
She's a river (he's a highway)  
Where she goes (where he goes)  
Time will tell (time will tell)  
Heaven knows she can't go with him (he can't go with her)  
And she rolls all by herself  
And he rolls all by himself.  
"The River and the Highway" by Pam Tillis'_

"Hmm." Jazz murmured to himself, looking at the next page, only to find it empty. He was about to close the book when on the top of the page, he found more of her small writing. ' a brief moment of hesitation, he logged onto the internet and onto the website.

_"Welcome to Free Of Fear, the website where those who have suffered from abuse. There is only one rule here, and that is respect: please respect yourself and others. That is all I can ask for. Katie"_

Surprised at finding Katie's name, he clicked on the link her name provided and was taken to a section (called "Shared Stories") and read, growing steadily repulsed.

"_My name is Katie, and I was born to a housewife and a military captain. My Papa was gone often, so I usually stayed home with my Mama. When I grew old enough, I spoke, and Papa was the one to hear it, as Mama was out at the shopping center getting groceries. Papa was so proud, and when Mama came home, got me to speak to her. She had put on a happy face but when Papa left on his next trip (he traveled all over the place, including out of the country) it all went downhill._

"_Mama yelled at me first. 'I never want to hear your voice ever again!' she'd shriek at me, and of course, I'd shut up. Soon, it escalated into blows; small compared to the ones I received later, but they hurt nonetheless. When Papa came home after a week, I hardly talked, hardly smiled, hardly laughed. I always avoided Mama, and scared that he'd do the same to me, avoided him as well. _

"_Papa left again in a few weeks, to stay in Korea for a month to inspect something. This left me at home with Mama. I still have nightmares of this time; it was likely the worst time of my life. Mama found all sorts of things to hit me with; frying pans, wooden spoons, spatulas, wooden bats, paddles, and books. Every time she hit me, she'd scream at me for speaking._

"_They call it trauma now; that's why I'm unable to speak. I can laugh, cry, scream, shriek, and all that, but I can't speak. Mama had beaten it out of me when I was five. I lived the rest of my life that way; learning sign language and how to talk without my voice. _

"_Papa was so disappointed. He told me I had a beautiful voice, and that he was sad that I lost it, but if that's the way fate was, he could accept it. I don't know what Mama told him, but Papa thought it was natural and went with it until I was in high school, just graduating in fact. Whenever Papa left, Mama would corner me and demand to know if I spoke. Of course, I answered truthfully (she had beaten lies out of me as well) and if I said 'yes' she'd beat me. If I said 'no', she'd whack me once then leave. If I made any noise when she hit me, she'd keep hitting me until I was quiet._

"_It so happened that during once such time, Papa had forgotten something. He came back inside to find me curled in a corner and Mama beating me, kicking me, screaming that she never wants to hear me make any noise ever again._

"_He did the right thing and called the police. They arrested Mama and asked me to testify against her. I didn't, but Papa didn't press me. He took custody of me until I was well, divorced Mama, and took me to a therapist. Mama went to jail and I haven't spoken to her since then._

"_However, the deed was done; to this day I am unable to speak because of the trauma she caused."_

Jazz stopped there, and even though there were only a few paragraphs left, he couldn't bear to read any more. Katie… the sweet human he'd come to know… it was hard to believe that she had gone through so much hardship in her life.

Optimus poked his head into the not-so-human-sized room, followed by Ratchet. "I figured we'd find you here." Ratchet said bluntly, walking quietly in and settling himself down facing Jazz. "You read the article?"

Jazz shook his head. "I can't believe it," he said, looking down at the human next to him. "How could someone do such a thing –and her own mother at that!"

"She is very brave to have survived that." Optimus said quietly. "As for her mother, I don't know either."

"She can talk, though." Jazz said quietly, and Ratchet and Optimus looked at him in surprise. "She was sleeping and I walked in, just before she woke up, Ratchet. She was having a nightmare. I think it was of one of her beatings." He shuddered and squeezed his optics shut. "She said, 'Yes, Mama. I'll never talk again. I promise, Mama, I'll never talk again.' And after that when I woke her up she said my name. I think." He added, looking back down at the human he'd come to care about.

He didn't see the looks Optimus and Ratchet exchanged, but if he did, he said nothing, brushing Katie's long bangs out of her face. "I'll be around if you need me." Optimus said at last, standing. "It's nice to know that she's okay. And in such capable hands."

Jazz didn't look up but nodded, optics flickering. "Get some recharge, Jazz. She'll be safe in your care, but you need to rest. I'll be in the med-bay if you need me." he stayed long enough to make sure that Jazz did in fact go into his recharge cycle before scanning the human and leaving.


	5. Talk

**Okay then. This was more popular than I expected, and by far (so I believe) the most popular of my other stories. Of course, my other stories suck, but whatever. **

**Okay. Since apparently so many people like it, I'll try to update and post one chapter per day. That of course, depends on my schoolwork and all that stuff, but I will try for a chapter a day. Tonight, it will only be one, as I had a lot of homework to do. ((grumble)) I'll get to work on the next chapter, though.**

* * *

Katie blinked at the lights shining into her eyes and slowly sat up, feeling the pounding headache coming like a speeding train. She groaned and rubbed her forehead, wincing as she felt the bruise just above her right eyebrow. It was rather big, and she wondered how she got it. Then everything came back to her.

The silver boom box from hell, Bertha, her zebra finches, Snowy, and most of all, the horrific tumble down the stairs and her nightmare. She winced and forced her stiff muscles to respond, forcing her to stand shakily.

Her legs shook unsteadily but held her weight. Stumbling awkwardly to her bag, she pulled out her small first-aid kit where she found a Tylenol which she popped in her mouth and swallowed.

"How do you feel?" to her credit, she didn't jump, but instead turned and smiled shakily up at Jazz who was looking down at her.

'As good as can be expected,' She signed. Her smile disappeared and she grew sober. 'Bertha's dead.' She signed sadly. Jazz's hologram appeared before her and embraced her, allowing her to bury her face in his shoulder. This time, she didn't cry; she just didn't have the tears to cry any more.

"Death is something we all learn to deal with." He said quietly, and Katie nodded, hugging him tightly. He hesitated slightly before plunging on. "Physical and emotional pain are even harder to get rid of, especially when they're traumatic and last for a great deal of time." Katie winced, but loosened up when Jazz began to play soft music for her.

_In this world you tried  
__Not leaving me alone behind  
__There's no other way  
__I prayed to the gods let him stay  
__The memories ease the pain inside  
__Now I know why_

_All of my memories keep you near  
__In silent moments imagine you here  
__All of my memories keep you near  
__Your silent whispers, silent tears_

Gently, he lifted her and placed her back on the cot, sitting beside her, singing along to the music while she signed.

Ratchet, who had come to check up on Katie, found them like that half an hour later.

_I have often dreamed of a far off place  
__Where a hero's welcome, would be waiting for me  
__Where the crowds will cheer, when they see my face  
__And a voice keeps saying, this is where I'm meant to be  
__I'll be there someday, I can go the distance  
__I will find my way, if I can be strong  
__I know every mile will be worth my while  
__When I go the distance I'll be right where I belong_

She faltered at the last word when she saw Ratchet, but at his nod, continued while he walked inside. He waited patiently, watching as Jazz (who eyed him warily) continued to sing and Katie signed almost nervously.

_I will search the world; I will face its harms  
__Till I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms_

Katie folded her hands in her lap and looked at Ratchet as the music faded away, almost nervously, he observed sadly. "How do you feel?" he asked.

Katie hesitated. 'Fine, considering I was attacked by the boom box from hell, tumbled down the stairs of my porch, and found out that my pets were dead.'

Ratchet smirked slightly. "Boom box from hell, indeed. At least you're okay." Katie snorted. "No sign of a concussion, only a big bruise."

'Really? Is that all? It feels like Bumblebee took revenge on me for throwing that rock at him.'

"Testy this morning, aren't we?" Jazz asked and Katie raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't look at me like that, Kitty. I'm not the one who got attacked."

Katie bit her lip and looked down guiltily, as if she blamed herself. Ratchet, seeing this, immediately took action. "Jazz, Prime wants to talk to you. His office is down the hall." Jazz hesitated and Ratchet glared at him. "Now."

Jazz gently patted Katie on the head before standing and walking out the door.

Ratchet's hologram appeared in front of Katie who hardly flinched. She pulled her knees up and wrapping her arms around them, put her chin on her knees, a rather blunt sign that she didn't really want to talk.

"Katie, I know you don't want to talk, but we need to." He said as gently as he was able to, moving so he was sitting beside her.

Katie heaved a gusty sigh. 'I know. It doesn't mean I look forward to it, though.' She turned so she was facing Ratchet. 'Now what?'

"Now will you answer more pressing questions?" Katie hesitated for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Good. Tell me truthfully: how did you meet Jazz?"

Katie frowned. 'Just as I told you. I wanted to get a new car to celebrate a new job. Found Jazz at the dealership and we "met" when a neighborhood bully came to bug me.'

"Do you know what happened last year at Mission City?" Katie shook her head slowly. "Jazz died; he was ripped in two."

'I see. You want to know how he came back to life.' Ratchet nodded. 'Well, go ask him; as if he'd tell me, considering he nearly bit my head off when I asked him about coming to visit you guys.'

This time it was Ratchet's turn to frown. "What do you mean?"

'One year ago from two days ago I met him. Met him as in talked with him. So on our one-year anniversary, I asked him if he wanted to go see you guys because I was sure you'd miss them. That crater you nearly drove through at my house? He made that.'

"What did he do?" Ratchet asked, worried. "Tell me exactly what he said."

Katie snorted. 'I don't have a wonderful memory like you do.' She grumbled. 'He said that it was none of my business, and that he didn't want to fight anymore. That's about all I remember.'

Ratchet sighed. "Okay. I'll go talk with him." Katie nodded nervously. "Thank you for answering my questions." He stood to leave, his hologram fizzing out. "Katie?" he paused at the door, turning to look at the slim woman. "I don't think you're worthless, and I know Jazz doesn't either."

-

Katie sat there for a while, digesting Ratchet's words, looking down at her hands. Still thinking, she pulled out her ipod and flicking it to a random song, pressed play then winced.

_I never thought that I could be so satisfied  
__Every time that I looked in your angel eyes  
__A shock inside me that words just can't describe  
__And there's no explaining  
__Something in the way you move I can't deny  
__Every word from your lips is a lullaby  
__A twist of fate makes life worthwhile  
__You are gold and silver_

_I said I wasn't gonna lose my head  
__But then pop! Goes my heart  
__I wasn't gonna fall in love again  
__But then pop! Goes my heart  
__And I just can't let you go  
__I can't lose this feeling_

She scrambled to change the song, sighing in relief when it was accomplished. Standing, she eyed her now-rumpled skirt, ruffling through her bag until she found another skirt, this one more presentable.

_From underneath the trees, we watch the sky  
__Confusing stars for satellites  
__I never dreamed that you'd be mine  
__But here we are, we're here tonight  
__Singing Amen, I, I'm alive  
__Singing Amen, I, I'm alive_

_If everyone cared and nobody cried  
__If everyone loved and nobody lied  
__If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
__Then we'd see the day when nobody died_

She hesitated slightly, adjusting the skirt then pulling on a matching blouse. As she pulled the hem of the shirt down, Jazz opened the door and stalked in, looking as angry as she'd ever seen him.

Katie coughed and decided to take a chance. Her throat shook and her voice was rather raspy, her tongue thick and clumsy due to lack of use, but he knew what she said. "Jazz."

* * *

**Songs used in order:  
"Memories" by Within Temptation  
"Go the Distance" by Michael Bolton  
"Pop! Goes my Heart" (Sorry, I couldn't resist :D) I'm unsure who wrote it, but it was from the movie "Music and Lyrics"  
"If Everyone Cared" by Nickelback**

**Next Chapter: Oi? What's this? The zebra finches are alive?!**


	6. Pets

**:D Yay! We have a Katie out there! I actually based some of Katie's character off my second-step-cousin. . . yeah. When I went to the mainland I visited them and had a blast. :3 **

* * *

'I want to go home.'

"You will be safer here. At least until we figure out why Frenzy attacked you."

Katie glowered. 'The boom box from hell? Is that his name? "Frenzy"?' she got a nod in reply. 'Little bastard. If I see him again, he's as good as dead.' She vowed, and something in the way she signed that told Optimus not to point out that it was likely that she'd be killed if she tried to go against him.

"You shouldn't go anywhere. You've hardly healed." Ratchet also made his protest.

'Okay, look. Bertha, my parrot, is dead. Snowy my cat, and possibly my zebra finches are likely dead as well. If I don't go back and clean my house, then the entire place will stink up and I'll have to trash everything because of the smell.' Katie snapped back. 'And you haven't smelled anything until you've smelled five-day-old-dead-pet.'

After a lot of swearing, arguments, angry signing, and a kick in the foot to Optimus, Jazz took Katie back to her house. There he stood beside her, his hologram holding her hand tightly. "Are you sure?" He received a half-hearted glare in reply and slowly, Katie edged toward the splintered door. Jazz's hologram followed closely as she opened the door and stepped inside.

Bertha's big cage was the place they stopped by first. Jazz wordlessly gave Katie a pair of gloves which she put on and opened the cage, gently picking up the blue parrot. She voiced a sort of muffled shriek and nearly dropped Bertha as her head nearly fell off, hanging from a scrap of muscle and skin. Jazz held open a small box he had made back at the base and she put her parrot in it, rearranging her feathers and watching as he closed the lid.

The zebra finches had been her favorite, but Snowy had more sentimental ties to her, not to mention that he was her self-proclaimed "guard-cat", so by an unspoken agreement, they went to look for him first. Katie whistled and went noticeably paler when a tiny jingling from upstairs reached her ears.

Joy lit up her face and she ran up the stairs as a large gray tabby cat (noticeably thinner due to having nothing to eat for a few days) leapt out of the upstairs room and into her arms. Thankfully, she had enough sense to take off her gloves before embracing her pet.

"Snowy?" Katie looked back at him with a sheepish expression at the sarcasm in his voice. "You named your _gray tabby_ 'Snowy'?"

Upon seeing him, Snowy flattened his ears and puffed up his tail, ready for battle. Katie soothed him, petting him and scratching his chin. When she had his attention, she signed 'friend'. Snowy stopped growling and walked cautiously over peering at Jazz. 'I named him "Snowy" because it was a joke between me and Papa. He was the one who got him for me.'

"Shall we look at your finches?" Jazz asked and hesitantly, Katie nodded. He walked beside her with Snowy following, into the dining room where she froze. The cage was gone. Surprise stole across her face, then happiness as she raced to the calendar where Jazz could see 'took finches to vet' written in bold blue letters.

She turned around, relief written very clearly across her face. 'They're at the vet's.'

Jazz frowned. "I don't remember taking them."

Katie snorted. 'Of course you don't; you don't like them, remember? You were in recharge-mode so I rode my bike and dropped them off at the vet in town.'

Jazz was quiet. He hated those stupid birds; they screamed shrilly, and flew about their cage in a frenzy throwing feathers, food, and water everywhere. Even with their cage covered, it ground on his nerves and he stoutly refused to let Katie put him in him.

Apparently she had resorted to other ways to get them around and to the vet, and he felt a pang of guilt. If only he'd woken up earlier, or allowed her to put the stupid birds in his back seat, Bertha wouldn't be dead and Snowy wouldn't be half-starved. Not to mention Katie wouldn't have been worrying her poor head off about them.

Katie peered at him. 'Don't live in the past.' She signed. 'What's done is done.' With Snowy on her heels, she gently picked up the box that held Bertha and went outside. After a moment's hesitation, Jazz followed, looking at the remains of her house.

The porch was still hanging in there, but the sidewalk leading to it was shattered in some places, and in others there were razor-sharp disks protruding from the ground, no doubt from Frenzy. Most of the wooden slats that made up the porch were splintered, and Jazz had eyed and scanned them before allowing Katie to walk on them.

The windows near the porch were cracked and shattered, and the wall itself bore holes or in one case, a great piece that was shattered. The holes were likely from Frenzy, and the enormous crater was most likely from Ratchet's fist. The front of the workshop near the house where Katie kept her gardening tools was shattered, splinters of dull red wood scattered everywhere.

Now that he looked for the human, she was nowhere to be seen. He transformed and looked around for her, freezing when he heard a great _thump_ coming from the back of the house. Startled, he ran around, cannons waiting to be summoned…

To find Katie hefting an enormous tile and dropping it with a heavy _thump_ on the ground. She picked up a small shovel and began to dig, shoving the pointed tip hard into the ground which slowly yielded beneath her weight. Relieved that it wasn't another attack, Jazz settled himself down and watched her dig a hole large enough to fit Bertha's improvised casket.

He was silent while she gently picked up the box and placed it carefully in the ground beneath the oak tree that housed her swing. Gently, she patted the dirt down on the burial site, and even Snowy seemed to understand the situation, for he reached out a paw and placed it on her knee, looking up at her with bright green eyes.

"Get Snowy packed up in his carrier, and give him some food and water while you're at it." Jazz said at last, drawing their stares. "Pack some clothes and all their food and supplies. If we leave soon, we can get to the vet's before they close, and to the base before nightfall."

Katie stared up at him. 'I thought you hated them in you.'

Jazz sighed. "I do, but…" he trailed off when Katie raised her hand.

'It's okay. I understand.' She beckoned to Snowy and led him in the house. She returned a few minutes later with his carrier (and him in it) which she placed in his back seat after he transformed. Judging by the crunches and slurps that came from the carrier, Snowy was eating happily.

Katie went back into the house a few more times, each time returning with her arms full: her backpack, laptop, and notebooks, portable drawing table, inks and pencils, a few days' worth of clothes, and two big bags, one of cat food and the other of bird food, the particular kind her zebra finches liked.

"Let's get going then." Katie nodded, folding the large blanket in the back, lifting Snowy's cage briefly to stretch it out beneath it, as well as on the other side of the seat where the finches would go. With that, she climbed in his driver's seat, as there was hardly any room for her anywhere else. "Ready?" he asked, and with a smile, Katie patted his steering wheel, placing her hands on it to make it look like she was driving as he turned around and drove down the deserted road.

* * *

**There weren't any songs used, as I'm sure you all know by now. Tomorrow I get off of school early, so the update should be faster. And considering I finished my homework and this chapter rather early today, I may be able to get up another today, and if not, there may be two updates tomorrow. Of course it all depends on my homework and if my bus comes on time. ((grumble)) stupid bus.**


	7. Chip

**Okay. ((yawns)) Last chapter for today. I'll get to work on the next chapter a bit tonight before I go to bed. Yeah, I couldn't bear to kill off Snowy; he was just too cute, and I based him a bit off my friend's cat who's just plain adorable. :3**

* * *

"A mute girl? Why would the Decepticons be interested in _her_?" Defense Secretary Keller asked incredulously.

"That is what we're trying to figure out." Optimus rumbled.

"You get back to me on that. Was anyone hurt in the attack?"

"No, only the girl and she's fine; only a few bruises."

Keller sighed. "That's good to know. I'll send some people to work on it, but I don't think I'll be able to get much on her; judging by what you said about her it's unlikely she'd have a criminal record, or any reason Barricade and Frenzy would want to get their hands on her."

"Thank you, Defense Secretary. I'll have my men work on it as well." He paused, sensitive audio sensors tuning in to a sudden cacophony of tiny shrieks. "I believe they're back." He said dryly, as he heard Ironhide roaring something about stupid rodents.

Keller, who heard the echoes of Ironhide's deep voice, grimaced. "Better get back to them before she gets stomped on, or something."

Prime sighed. "I agree. Thank you, Defense Secretary." Keller nodded and signed out. Steeling himself, he palmed open the doors, in time to hear Ironhide roaring again.

Walking quickly, he found most of the base's inhabitants in front of the room they had saved for Katie. Jazz was parked in his alternate mode, and Katie, ignoring the other Autobots, was unloading things from his backseat and trunk into her room. The last things she took out were a large, dark case with mesh in front of the opening and holes in it and an enormous cage covered by a dark cloth. When everything was out, Jazz transformed and stretched with a broad grin.

"I don't want any more rodents here!" Ironhide roared, pointing his cannon at Katie who didn't flinch or bat an eye. The inhabitants of the covered cage began to shriek in shrill tones, and there was a furious show of hissing and spitting coming from the dark case. A gray, white, and black paw squeezed out of one of the openings, slicing at the air (in the general direction of Ironhide), sharp claws out.

'Put your cannon away, Ironhide, or I'll sic them all on you.' Katie signed, raising an eyebrow in amusement. 'A show of pretty lights like that won't scare me.'

"Ironhide!" Prime snapped, and immediately the black mech's cannons retracted, but he still glared at Katie and the creatures she was defending. "Katie, will you please explain?"

"I'll do that, actually, Prime. Katie can get the finches and Snowy," Jazz chuckled at that. "Settled in the room." He finished.

"Actually, if Katie doesn't mind, I'd like to have a look at them, if only to make sure they're okay." Ratchet said, gesturing at the now-glaring Katie who crouched beside the dark case, fingering the latch, unnoticed by everyone save Bumblebee who vigorously motioned for her to keep it closed.

Smirking at the yellow mech, she flipped the latch open. With a roar rivaling a speeding motorcycle's, a large gray and black blur shot out of the cage and clawed up Ironhide's legs until he was perched on the black mech's head. Once on his perch of choice, Snowy hissed and yowled, swiping sharp claws at Ironhide's optics. Surprised, Ironhide roared and reached for the furry menace, only to find it gone from the top of his head and climbing rapidly down his arm.

The only warning Ratchet had was a flash of gray and a fierce "MRRRRRR!" before Snowy hooked his claws into the bumper on his chest. However, the green medic was saved from his fate by Katie.

"Snowy!" her voice was scratchy as if she had a sore throat, and she slurred a bit so that it sounded more like "Shhnoweee", but the gray mass of fur got the gist and scrambled down in record time to stand protectively in front of his human.

Ratchet was too busy gawking at Katie who sat smugly, petting the rather large gray domestic tabby cat to take note of the reading she got off the cat. Even Ironhide was stunned into silence.

Jazz, however, laughed. "Perfect timing!" he crowed. "Come on, Prime. I'll meet you in your office when you're done gawking."

'I'll be in medical when you're done gawking, Ratchet.' Katie signed with a smirk. Shaking her head, she lifted the big covered cage, and with the gray tabby following on her heels (still hissing at the Autobots as he passed), she disappeared down the hall.

-

"Katie," the human looked up from the zebra finch she held delicately in her hands. "Your cat-"

"Snowy." She interrupted.

"Snowy your cat, appears to have a sort of chip in him." Katie frowned, and put the zebra finch back in the cage, closing the door securely behind her.

'Vets have a tendency to microchip pets.' She signed. 'They put information on the owner – name, address, and phone number – in case the pet gets lost. I'm sure Snowy has one.'

"Yes, he does." Ratchet said, and Katie frowned. "What I'm saying is that he has _another_ one."

'What do you mean?' Katie signed back, and Ratchet called her over. Katie patted Snowy on the head idly as she looked at the monitor the Autobot medic pointed to. 'Could Frenzy have put it in?'

Ratchet shook his head. "The chip itself indicates that it was put in about nine years ago."

Katie frowned. 'That's when I got him. What does the chip say?'

Ratchet shrugged. "Nothing interesting. It's a tracking chip, and judging by the program, it'll alert whoever put the chip in if Snowy here goes to a different state. I'm guessing they installed it so they could have an idea of where you are."

'Can they pinpoint exactly where I am?' she asked, worried that the chip would have to be removed; she knew from experience that Snowy didn't do well with surgeries.

"No." Ratchet said with a shrug. "Not anymore; I fixed it so the signal will be jammed. That way I won't need to take it out." Katie cast a grateful look at Ratchet, picking up her now-limp cat.

"Mrr?" Katie smiled at the drowsy murmur of her cat, holding him in her arms and stroking his neck and chest.

"I'll carry your birds, Katie; I don't think they'll mind me as much as Snowy." Ratchet said dryly, lifting the cage gently. The zebra finches chirped and whistled, but their noises were a bit more subdued.

The pounding steps of the Autobot was all that warned Katie to step out of the way of the door; a few seconds later, a massive foot was in the place she had been standing. "I thought I heard birds!" he said, gleefully and curiously peering at the now-shrieking birds in Ratchet's hand. "What kind are they and how did they get here? Did Sam and Mikaela bring them."

Ratchet glared at the newcomer. "No, the human you nearly stepped on brought them, Wheeljack." Immediately, Katie was scrutinized by a newcomer's optics, the friendly blue gaze flickering over her, then Snowy in her arms.

"I'm sorry. My name's Wheeljack and I'm the resident engineer." He held out a finger which, after gently juggling the drugged Snowy in her arms, awkwardly shook it with her right hand. With it free, she signed her name quickly before readjusting her hold on the big gray tabby.

Wheeljack cast a curious look up at Ratchet when Katie didn't respond in the way he expected. "She's mute, Wheeljack. You'd know that if you attended the daily meetings." The medic said. If he could roll his optics, he would, Katie was sure.

"Well, it's not my fault Prime has a project he wants me to work on." The engineer grumbled back good-naturedly. He was about to say more, when Katie's pointed cough got their attention.

She juggled the lethargic Snowy again, and spelled out 'time'.

Ratchet had a distant look in his optics and she knew he was checking his chronometer. "It is nearly midnight." He said in surprise. "I'm sorry for keeping you out so late. Let's get the finches to your room and Snowy in his bed so we can talk. Well, you can talk." Katie nodded as Jazz trotted down the hall, not noticing Wheeljack.

"There you are, Kitty. I've been lookin' all over fer ya. At 'round 'leven I got worried. Let's get you to bed; I know you need yer rest or you'll wake up cranky an' bitchy an' all that shit." Katie raised an eyebrow, and juggling Snowy again, flipped him off before rearranging her hold on the drooling tabby. "Come along, you." he said with a chuckle, lowering his hand so she could step on it and he could lift her up.

"Jazz?" Wheeljack asked, staring openly at the silver Solstice.

Jazz raised an optic ridge. "Haven't ya been goin' to th' daily meetin's?"

Ratchet shook his head. "He's been locking himself in his workshop"

Jazz nodded, walking sideways down the hall so he could face Wheeljack and Ratchet while he talked. "I see. We can talk later, but Katie needs ta get ta sleep." Katie rolled her eyes, but stepped down thankfully and disappeared into her room, returning empty-handed a moment later to take the zebra finches from Ratchet. She came back once more, and kicked Jazz's foot to get his attention, which drew Ratchet's and Wheeljack's, the two she actually wanted to talk to.

'I'll bring Snowy and the finches by tomorrow morning.' She said, fighting back a yawn. 'If you don't mind, you can look over them for a few hours while Jazz and I go out.'

Jazz didn't seem surprised, but Wheeljack and Ratchet did. "Why?" the medic asked.

Katie raised an eyebrow. 'I have work to do; some photography here and there, a meeting to go to, and supply shopping; I'm running low on graphite pencils.' This time, she yawned fully. 'Well, goodnight, guys.' With a wave to them, she disappeared into her room.

* * *

**I agree with Katie. Good night, you guys!**

**I get off from school early tomorrow!! Yay:D I'll see if I can't get two more chapters up tomorrow. [insert heroic and cheesy pose here**

**While I'm at it, I'll see if I can't get more songs in here. :3**


	8. Birds

**Here's another chapter:D ((sigh)) I'm getting kicked off the computer by my step-siblings, so this is all for tonight, possibly. ((sighs again)) Oh well. Hope this holds you off 'till tomorrow.**

* * *

"C'mon, Katie. Wake up. I know it's early, but it's time ta get up." Katie swatted half-heartedly at the hand, turning over. "Katie, wake up." Katie heaved a sigh and turned over to face her assailant. "Good. You're awake. Now get ready or you'll be late to work."

With a yelp, Katie bolted up and in a dervish, set about changing her clothes. Thankfully Jazz had the sense to make his hologram disappear and bolt out the door before she could register that he'd been in the room while she was changing. Hurriedly, she poured some food and water into Snowy and finches' bowls, running to the basin to wash her face and get ready.

Ten minutes later, with Snowy on her heels, she raced out of the room with the cage rattling in her arms. Gently, Jazz picked up the cage in one hand and her and Snowy in the other, walking quickly down the still-deserted halls. When they burst into the med-bay, Katie was in the middle of a great yawn.

'Morning, guys.' She signed to Ratchet and Wheeljack who looked like they had been up all night working on a project. 'Here's the finches and Snowy. I just fed them, but if they get hungry again, go in my room and find the two feed bags; they're by the door. Yellow bag and one scoop of food for Snowy, and pink bag with two scoops for the finches. If their water runs out, give them fresh water, but I think they're covered for until I get back. Thanks!'

Without waiting for a reply, she jumped back on Jazz's hand and hung on while he ran down the corridors. He placed her down gently and transformed, opening the driver-side door and driving off the minute she sat down in his seat.

-

Katie sighed, flopping down on the cot tiredly. 'Stupid meeting took so damn long.' she grumbled to Jazz who sighed and leaned against the wall next to her.

"Tell me about it. Five vandals tried to nab me. _Five_!" Jazz and Katie sighed and she rolled over.

'That's because you're a hot and sexy car.' She signed drowsily as Jazz grinned.

"An' don't you forget it!"

Katie rolled her eyes. 'Wake me up in a few hours or something. I'm going to take a nap.'

"Good idea," Jazz said, letting his head hang. "I'll take one too." He didn't wait for a reply, but let his systems go into recharge-mode. Katie wasn't that far behind.

-

…_Meanwhile, with Ratchet and Wheeljack five hours ago…_

"What are we supposed to do _now_?" Ratchet growl, casting a glare at Wheeljack who held the top portion of the bird cage in his hand.

"Eh, catch them?" he suggested, bending slowly to pick up the bottom half of the cage. He had grabbed the top part, not knowing that it was a two-part cage, causing the bottom to drop and the birds who began to freak, fly out of the now-open cage to freedom.

"Oh. Brilliant. Now how exactly do we go about doing that?" Ratchet grumbled sarcastically. Wheeljack, however, had his attention diverted when he spotted Snowy the oddly-named gray tabby poking around his work area in the med-bay, close to sticking his nose in a vat with a dangerous chemical for the cat.

"SNOWY! NO!" he dropped the cage in his hands and lunged for the cat which yowled and leapt out of the way, landing on one of the berths while Wheeljack ran into his desk, sending data disks, reports, vials, beakers, and other miscellaneous things he had on his desk flying. The vat of dangerous chemicals, however, spilled all over him, spilling over his helm, face and chest.

"Mrr!" the cat grumbled, sitting down on the berth and beginning to clean his face, glaring at Wheeljack who stood, bright pink liquid dripping down his body. To make things worse, it seemed that the zebra finches, tiny as they were, liked Ratchet for a perch, for twelve of the tiny birds landed on his head and shoulder after their exploration of the med-bay was through. The thirteenth, however, hovered in front of Ratchet's nose as if looking for a perch there so it could stare into his optics.

Half-bent to get the top of the cage (which was broken because of Wheeljack dropping it), he held still, not wanting to move and have a piece of his armor squish one of the birds on accident. The bird continued to hover in front of him, squeaking, its tiny orange claws tucked securely to its creamy stomach.

The bird bobbed in the air, obviously getting tired and cautiously, Ratchet moved the hand he was reached for the cage with. The birds perched on his shoulders leapt off when they felt his armor plates move, much to his relief. Slowly, he closed his hand in a fist and turned it sideways, extending a finger and placing it beneath the hovering bird as he had seen Katie do last night.

The bird gave one last squeak and landed imperiously on his finger joint, tilting its tiny head this way and that to peer at Ratchet. It gave a high pitched shriek and was answered by the varied tones of the other birds perched on Ratchet.

Slowly, but faster than before, Ratchet straightened and was glad to find that the birds jumped off him (save for the one on his finger) and waited until his armor plates had settled before landing once more.

"Ratchet?" he looked to the med-bay doors to find Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee standing there, staring at him (including the birds that were perched on him), and at Wheeljack who was wiping the pink liquid off himself with a towel, then at Snowy who looked undoubtedly smug as he sat on the berth, cleaning his tail.

"Can I help you?" he grumbled, angry more at himself for not hearing the doors open and close.

"Are you okay?" Bumblebee asked cautiously, trying to hide his laugh, though it was evident in his voice.

"Bee has a rock wedged in his leg." Mikaela said at the same time, receiving a half-hearted glare from the yellow mech.

Ratchet sighed, eyeing the birds who looked back at him with their beady little eyes. "I'll get to it. Go sit down and watch for Snowy."

"Who's Snowy?" Sam asked, as the tabby poked his head over the edge of the berth and hissed, fur standing on end. "Oh. Um, who does he belong to?"

"Katie." Bumblebee said, picking up the two humans and putting them gently on the berth, a little ways away from the hissing cat. He sat down and looked over at Ratchet who hadn't moved much since they had last talked to him. He seemed to be addressing the birds perched on his shoulders and chassis.

"Please get off; I have work to do. I promise you can go back there later, but not right now!" The bird on his finger squawked and watched as the other birds flew off when Ratchet began to walk toward his tools. It chirped and hovered around him, watching intently as he began to get the tools necessary to get the rock out of Bee's leg. After nearly stepping on the broken cage top, he picked it up and put it next to Mikaela and Sam who eyed it warily.

The finches circled Mikaela, Sam, Bumblebee, and Snowy, who showed no inclination to pounce at them, even allowing four to perch on his side as he stretched out and went to sleep. Wheeljack hovered around Snowy, watching as the birds chirped and hopped on the cat who barely twitched, save to open one green eye and glare at the inventor.

"These are Katie's birds?" Mikaela asked, breaking the silence in the room.

Ratchet didn't look up. "Yeah, she brought them last night along with the cat. Wheeljack came by around midnight and wanted to have a look at them, but she said that she'd bring them over today."

"She left them in our care," Wheeljack said as a finch landed on his helm and peered down at him. "Though unfortunately, we don't know how to care for them."

"Where is she? You can always ask her." Mikaela pointed out and Wheeljack looked sheepish.

"Well, she went with Jazz to get some work done. Photography and meetings, I think she said." The inventor replied. "She's not at the base and likely won't be for a few hours at least."

Sam and Mikaela looked at the med-bay, their gaze reached from corner to corner and taking in the thirteen birds hovering around, one of which was perched on Ratchet's shoulder while he worked, then at Snowy the cat who glared at them.

"We'll help."

--


	9. Email

**Sorry it took a while. I was really busy today.**

* * *

_If I had one wish, I would wish for two  
__With the way things are, sometimes gets hard  
__But we've come so far to be happy._

_Yeah, don't think that I'm complaining  
__Sometimes it keeps on raining.  
__Oh but don't be frightened by thunder and lightning  
__The sun comes out and the flowers grow  
__And you find you're already on the road to be happy.  
_  
Jazz onlined his optics and found Katie sitting on the cot with her laptop in her lap and her ipod next to her, playing the country music that filtered through the room. She seemed in a cheery mood, tapping lightly at the keys as she hummed to the music.

Silently, he watched the human type, and then frowned as the music changed.

_When you get caught in the rain with nowhere to run  
__When you're distraught and in pain without anyone  
__When you keep cryin out to be saved but nobody comes  
__And you feel so far away that you just can't find your way home  
__You can get there alone  
__It's okay, won't you say_

_I can make it through the rain  
__I can stand up once again on my own  
__And I know that I'm strong enough to mend  
__And every time I feel afraid  
__I hold tighter to my faith  
__And I live one more day  
__And I make it through the rain_

"What's with the depressing music?" he asked, and Katie looked up rather sheepishly.

'I got an e-mail from my father.' She signed, looking down at the screen. 'It's nice to talk to him again, but he also brings news that doesn't make me feel to happy.'

Jazz frowned. "What news?" Katie hesitated, and he glared at her. "Katie, don't make me hack your laptop again."

Katie only gave a resigned sigh, and Jazz's frown deepened. Whenever he threatened to hack her laptop, or reminded her of when he actually did, she usually got mad at him. Now, when she didn't get mad, it meant that she was very sad indeed.

'My mother's coming out on parole.' She signed simply. A few minutes more of typing, and then she closed the laptop with a click. 'About a month from now. He just thought he'd give me a heads-up.'

"I see." Jazz frowned and Katie sighed.

'Don't look at me like that, Jazz. Come on. Let's go save Ratchet and Wheeljack from my pets.' That brought a faint smile to Jazz's face, and he picked her up and carried her to medical, thinking along the way.

Katie's mother was coming out on parole. That meant that Katie wasn't as safe as she was; physically, mentally, or emotionally. That explained that stupid song. What was it called? Whatever; it didn't matter in the least. It also explained her forced cheeriness, and the way she curled up in his hand as if it were one of her 'safe corners'.

Jazz had found soon after he met her that whenever she felt threatened, she always found someplace she could wedge her back into. It was usually corners, but once in a while she'd wedge her back between his driver's seat and the door. If she couldn't find any corners, she'd curl up in a ball and sit there with an almost blank look in her eyes, no doubt reliving memories and fantasies to escape reality.

She snapped out of it when they walked into the med-bay, even laughing when she saw Ratchet and Wheeljack who were covered in bird-poop, Sam, who was running from Snowy, and Mikaela who sat with a few birds on her shoulders and hair, talking to the one who perched on her hand.

'What happened to my cage?' she signed when she saw the mangled remains of the cage next to Mikaela. She fixed Wheeljack with a glare as a few finches came over to investigate the newcomers. Recognizing their owner (or at least the person who brought them food and water), they shrieked and spun around her as she stepped off Jazz's hand and on to the berth.

Ratchet saw the troubled look on Jazz's face and stepped carefully over as the finches on him chirped to join their flock-mates in circling Katie. **"What's the matter, Jazz? I know that look on your face."** He said in Cybertronian, dragging Bumblebee and Wheeljack's attention from whatever they were doing.

Katie looked up from petting Snowy at the odd sounds coming from Ratchet. She narrowed her eyes, knowing that the Autobots were having a secret conversation. With a snort, she went back to playing with her cat and the finches that continued to swirl around her.

Jazz hesitated**. "Katie's father e-mailed her."** He said at last, looking at the human. **"Her mother's parole is coming up in about a month, and I'm not sure how she's going to handle it. I'm worried about her."**

"**Parole?"** Wheeljack echoed, and Bumblebee looked at him before explaining the concept of jails and parole. **"Shouldn't she be elated? After all, it **_**is**_** her mother."**

Ratchet shook his head. **"Not in Katie's case. Her mother abused her when she was a child, and that lead to her being mute. If anything, I believe that she is very tense, and apprehensive of having her mother back in society."** Ratchet sighed, going back to working on Bumblebee's leg, making sure that no grit got in the joints of his leg. **"I'll bring it up at the next meeting with Optimus."** He said at last. **"I'm sure we can find a solution."**

Jazz said nothing, watching Katie check her pets for signs of injury, laughing as Snowy pouched playfully at Sam who screamed and ran, thinking he meant to attack him for real. There was only so much he could do for her, and he didn't like knowing that.

-

"I hope it's no inconvenience." Keller said for the fifth time, and for the fifth time, Optimus Prime reassured him that it wasn't an inconvenience at all.

"We could use all the help we can get," he said. "It would be an honor working aside you."

The general behind the Defense Secretary nodded and gave him a smart American salute, which Optimus Prime returned with an Autobot one.

"I will be there tomorrow at noon, sir." The general said with a curt nod. He was by no means rude, but he was a bit stiff, Optimus noted.

"We will be here to meet you, general. Thank you for your time." The general nodded. "Thank you as well, for your help. Now if you excuse me, I need to check on my men." Both nodded in understanding (Keller even had to hide a smile behind his hand) and Optimus signed off with a sigh. What would the future hold for them? He shook his head as he walked toward the med-bay and Ratchet's domain, hearing Katie and Mikaela laughing.

That is a question to ask tomorrow.

* * *

**Songs used:  
"To Be Happy" by Sara Evans  
"Through the Rain" by Mariah Carey**


	10. Meetings

**Yay! Another chapter up today! I be happy. :) Sorry for the short chapter earlier. My grandmother was in the hospital so I went to visit her, resulting in an hour-long stay and being taken out to dinner by my mother and staying at the mall for an hour because she wanted to look around. ((shrug))**

**Well, it's 9:30 and I have school tomorrow, so good night. ((yawns)) Another early day tomorrow, so I'll see if I can't put up two chapters. :)**

* * *

Aldrin Keyne sat patiently at the table, looking around the bustling café. Apparently Saturdays were busy for the little place, for he had a hard time finding a seat. Thankfully, a couple had been leaving when he walked by, so he was able to grab their seat before anyone else could. 

He looked across the little shop, looking for one woman in particular. There. Spotting her, he smiled. She was just as he remembered: tall and slender with long brown hair and blue-hazel eyes. Spotting him, she smiled and waved, weaving elegantly through the crowds and coming to a stop in front of him.

"Aah, Katie. You're just like I remember you. Tell me; are you really my daughter?" Aldrin smiled when she gave her musical laugh and whacked him gently in the shoulder.

"Is that any way to greet your own flesh and blood? I'm hurt." Katie said playfully, hugging him tightly and ignoring the stunned look he gave her. Her voice was still a little raspy, but it was there.

"Katie? You spoke!" Katie smiled at her surprised father.

"But of course!" she said with a laugh. "Close your mouth, Papa, or you'll swallow a fly, and you do remember what happened last time, didn't you?"

That snapped Aldrin out of it; he did indeed remember the time he had swallowed a fly because he was staring. With a smile at his daughter, he sat back down. "Then let us have a toast." He proposed lifting his coffee cup in the air and watching as she lifted her iced coffee in return. "To new beginnings,"

"To happy lives," Katie responded, tapping his cup gently and sipping from hers.

They sat there for a good two hours, just talking between themselves about their lives. Of course Aldrin couldn't talk much about his, but he told her what he could and that was good enough for her.

"So. How's your birds?" Katie's smile wavered but she regained her composure.

"The finches are fine; they've even gotten attached to my new pet-sitters." She had a secretive smile when she said that, Aldrin noted subconsciously. "Bertha died; someone broke into my house and killed her."

"How horrible," Aldrin said, reaching across the table to grasp her hand. "When?"

"A few days ago," Katie said easily. "I've gotten over her death, Papa."

Aldrin raised an eyebrow. "You know you're bad at coping with death. Are you sure?"

Katie had that secretive smile, and she looked outside at the silver Pontiac Solstice parked outside the window. "I had a friend help me."

Aldrin raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing; his little girl was old enough to run her life on her own. But knowing that didn't make it any easier to sit by and watch her live her life. "How's Snowy?" he asked at last and Katie looked back at him with a smile.

"He's found a new friend or two in my pet-sitters." She replied, sipping her iced coffee and watching her father's face.

"How are you doing on work?" he asked, ignoring the question blooming in his head about that. Just how many pet-sitters did she have, and how on _earth_ did she get Snowy to take to them?

Katie shrugged. "I'm getting by. Why, are you going into your protective-dad phase again?"

Aldrin sighed good-naturedly at the jibe. "No, I'm not Katie," He said, rolling his eyes. "It's just that we could use a good artist with a picture-perfect memory where I work, and you're great in both areas."

With a smile, Katie shook her head. "As much as I appreciate the offer, Papa, I don't want to be all stiff and formal. That's one of the reasons I didn't join the military."

Aldrin looked at his daughter. "What were the others?"

Katie sighed, putting her cup down. "I don't want to kill and I don't want to go to war, or a war zone." She said simply, and judging by the almost-curt way she said it, she didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I also don't want to make friends, only to have them killed in the line of duty." She looked back outside at the Pontiac Solstice, then back at her father. "Those are some reasons."

Wisely, Aldrin changed the subject. "So, why did you start to speak again?"

Again, that secretive smile. "A good friend helped me along." Her eyes drifted back outside, and Aldrin frowned; this wasn't anything like the Katie he knew. "I suppose you could say he broke the fear in me."

"Will you introduce me to him? He sounds like a nice guy." Katie heard the protective-dad undertone in his voice, and smirked at him.

"Perhaps, but knowing you, you'd freak him out a bit. Maybe run him over with the truck, perhaps?"

Aldrin gave her a "who, me?" look that was obviously fake. "Me? Nah, I wouldn't. Honest. But just be aware that the day you bring him to meet me, I may be 'accidentally' cleaning out my gun collection."

Katie snorted into her iced coffee. "So, how's life treating you?"

Aldrin shrugged. "It's been okay. I got a new assignment yesterday, and I have to meet my new boss this afternoon, otherwise I'd take you to the fair or something."

Katie smiled faintly at that. "It's okay, Papa. I'm going with my friend tonight."

Aldrin's eyebrows rose. "Is that so? On what, a date?"

Katie giggled. "No, Papa, not a date. He's never been to a fair here before, so I thought it would be nice for him to go."

Aldrin checked his watch and sighed. "Sorry, Katie, but it's getting late and I need to get into my uniform to meet my new boss."

Katie wrinkled her nose. "That's why I don't want to join the military; they're too stiff and formal. Give me a loose skirt and a blouse and I'll be happy. Or better yet, shorts and a T-shirt. Those work too. I couldn't bear to wear all those suits and uniforms."

Aldrin laughed; it was a sentiment he had heard for many years. "Well, Katie my dear, I know; you've said that since you were twelve. Nevertheless, I have to go. Bye, Katie, honey." Katie wrinkled her nose at being called "honey" and Aldrin laughed again; she hadn't changed at all.

"Bye, Papa." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek before watching him leave.

As Aldrin walked across the street to his big white truck, he turned slightly and looked back at Katie who still sat at the seat in the window. He frowned, his hand on the door latch. She wasn't alone anymore; she now sat across a tan-skinned man with long jet-black hair tied backing a pony-tail. His frown deepening, he slid into the cab of his truck and starting the engine, drove away.

-

"So, how'd it go?" Jazz's hologram asked, leaning across the table eagerly.

"Well enough." Katie rasped out. Jazz frowned.

"I'm no Ratchet or human doctor, but I do think you've overdone it today; you only started speaking a few days ago and even then not much."

Katie sighed, a slight rasp slipping out. "I suppose you're right." She croaked out, wincing and sipping at her iced coffee which was almost gone. Jazz eyed the light tan beverage.

"Get another one and let's get going; I don't like the looks those adolescent males down the street are giving me." Katie giggled and stood, going to order another iced coffee after finished hers. When she went out, the engine of the Solstice was already purring, waiting almost impatiently as she sat herself down. With a growl, it pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.

-

Dressed smartly in his best uniform, cleanly pressed and settling perfectly on his shoulders, his hair neatly combed and mustache as well, and uniform shoes neatly polished, Aldrin almost felt stupid getting into his dirty white truck and driving away to his military base.

He slowed to a stop at the military checkpoint, and watched as the guards snapped him salutes which he returned. "The convoy's waiting for you, sir." The first guard said, and with a nod, he drove forward to find that the convoy was indeed waiting for him.

His hand-picked squad stood at attention in a neat line when he stepped out of his truck, and Sergeant Epps and Captain Lennox stood off to the side, at parade rest and looking at him calmly. He walked down the line of stern-faced soldiers; these guys, save for the tech. sergeant had at least seven years of duty under their belts, and it showed in the way they held themselves at firm attention.

He nodded to his guides then turned to address his squad. "At ease. Are you ready?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" they said in perfect unison, and Aldrin laughed.

"Don't call me general, call me captain, please, not sir. Or, if you feel you can stomach it, you may call me Keyne. Is that clear?"

The group of ten was silent, unsure how to address that, but it was obvious to Aldrin, who had a good twenty years of service under his own belt, that they understood and would obey. Even the rookie. "Good." He said less formally, with a hint of kindness in his voice. "Let's get going, then." He nodded at Epps and Lennox. "Lead the way."

-

Years of military practice allowed him to both gawk at the size of the Autobot leader, and remain at stiff attention, his "general face" firmly in place. Optimus Prime was a good twenty-five feet tall, massive compared to the 6-foot human at his feet and his between-five-and-six-feet ensemble of men.

"It is an honor to work with you." The Autobot leader said formally, breaking the silence between them.

"The honor is all mine." Aldrin replied rather belatedly, with a salute that his men contributed to a second later.

Optimus Prime chuckled gently. "Please, come inside. My understanding of deserts is that it tends to be very hot for humans, so much so that it makes them uncomfortable. Come: the air is cooler inside."

Following his lead, the thirteen humans followed the enormous Autobot inside the base. "I hope none of you are allergic to birds or cats." He continued, slowing his pace so the humans didn't have to run to keep up. "We currently have one human, eight Autobots including myself, one cat, and thirteen zebra finches living at the base. The human is the girl who had been attacked by a rogue Decepticon, and the animals are the pets she brought with her. I will introduce you to anyone we see along the way, for it is likely that you will be here often."

"Thank you, sir." Aldrin said with a grateful nod.

Optimus Prime smiled down at him then looked up when he saw a finch dart into his view. It cheeped and hovered in front of him, a royal blue ribbon tied around its right claw which in turn was attached to a piece of paper rolled up and tied to his (at least Optimus _thought_ it was a he) leg.

He held out his finger as Ratchet had shown him and the finch, with a high-pitched chirp, landed on his finger. Slowly, he lowered it down to Captain Lennox who looked like he was about to crack up. Gently, he untied the paper, and read it aloud to the Autobot leader.

"'Testing. Does it work, Optimus?'" Lennox looked up quizzically at the Autobot leader who sighed. With a practiced but gentle flick, he sent the finch off his finger, though instead of flying away, it flew to perch on his head.

"That was one of the finches I was talking about." Optimus told the squad, ignoring the odd look he now had with the zebra finch hopping around on his head. "Ratchet and Wheeljack are testing to see if they can be used to deliver messages like carrier pigeons."

There was a laugh from the hall near them, and a red mech stepped forward, a grin across his face. "Well, it mostly works with messages going to the mech or human that particular bird's grown attached to." He admitted, playfully swatting at the finch circling his head and cheeping shrilly.

"This is Sideswipe, one of my melee warriors." Optimus said, sending a warning look at the red mech who grinned cheekily. "Sideswipe, this is the squad of men who you will see a lot of. I suggest that you learn to mind them."

"Yessir!" he chirped, disappearing down another hall, the finch following.

"It's true," Epps admitted when Aldrin looked at him in askance. "Most of the finches have gotten attached to the 'bots in the base. To tell who belongs to whom, we've tied ribbons around their claws judging by the main color of the mechs, or by the favorite color of the humans."

"The cat's better at delivering messages, though." Another human, hardly more than eighteen years old, appeared beside Epps and Lennox. "I swear that thing's supernaturally smart." He grumbled. Seeing the looks he was given by the humans, he shrugged. "Name's Sam Witwicky. The stupid cat knows who you are even if it's seen you once and delivers messages very fast, and very accurately."

They reached the briefing room at last, and Optimus carefully lifted the humans on the platform at chest-level for most of the Autobots on the base. Catwalks lead to the platform along the walls, and ladders connected the catwalks to the ground. Only after looking around did he notice that there were two other inhabitants of the room besides them.

A girl dressed in a long, flowing skirt and a matching blouse – both a fetching shade of silver – walked, balancing precariously on the railings of the catwalk. The other inhabitant, a silver mech, followed her anxiously, four-fingered claw-like hands stretched out in case she fell, for she wobbled a lot.

"Katie, that is most unwise." Optimus said disapprovingly, and startled, the girl whirled, only to slip and fall over the edge. Luckily for her, the silver mech had been paying attention and caught her before she had fallen a few feet past the bottom of the catwalk.

Perfectly content, the girl sat in the silver mech's palm as he walked over to the platform and placed her gently there, giving Optimus a sharp, if not sheepish salute which he acknowledged with a nod.

"Katie?" Aldrin asked, almost not believing it.

The girl whirled, sending her skirts swirling around her ankles, eyes wide as she saw who called her name. "Papa?"

* * *

**Okay. I'm _finally_ getting somewhere in the story. I've been planning this for a while, but... I couldn't resist adding the part about the finches and Snowy and the dilemma Wheeljack and Ratchet had when they ended up pet-sitting for Katie. :) **

**Anywho, I like the idea of smart pets (even though all mine are crazy ((looks at pets)) ) like seeing-eye dogs and other service dogs. In fact, there was a story in the news about a month ago about a dog who could read, which I thought was cool. Snowy's a cat, and cats are supposed to be rather intelligent, and not to mention Snowy's a self-proclaimed guard-cat for Katie, so he _should_ know who is who around the base, if only to protect Katie. ;)**

**The part about Katie's friend and Aldrin's threat about the guns and truck came from a real conversation I had with my dad about boyfriends sometime this year...**

**Hmm... I'm rambling again, aren't I? ((rolls eyes)) Well, time for bed. 'Night folks:)**


	11. Fracture

**Good grief! Sorry I'm late. I had homework and was dragged hither and yon around on various errands. Luckily I had a chance to work on this this morning! -.-;;**

_

* * *

_

"_Katie?" Aldrin asked, almost not believing it._

_The girl whirled, sending her skirts swirling around her ankles, eyes wide as she saw who called her name. "Papa?"_

-

"Katie, what are you doing here?" "General face" conflicted with paternal instincts, and it resulted in a cross between the two with a voice like steel.

Katie's surprise faded fast, and her face began to grow pale, and her eyes wide. Her mouth opened and closed as if unsure what to say, looking down at the ground instead of trying to meet her father's angry eyes.

"Answer me, Katie. What _are you doing here_?" she flinched visibly, and backed up quickly as slowly, Aldrin stepped forward. At last, she turned and ran toward the silver mech who picked her up gently and with her in his hand, walked out of the room after sending a glare at Aldrin.

Lennox and Epps, though Katie hardly talked with them, knew and understood what Katie was going through, and turned on Aldrin, surprising him at the anger in their voices.

"I don't care if she's your daughter, but don't you _ever _talk to her like that again." Lennox told him, his voice hard. "You don't know what she's been through this week, and we've only just gotten her to open up. Who _knows_ how long it'll be before she speaks again because of this."

"What are you talking about? Her week's been uneventful; so she said this morning!" Aldrin snapped back, temper short because of his guilt.

"Of course she wouldn't tell you," was Epps sharp reply. "Jazz likely told her about the whole secret thing when she first met him!"

"I figured it out." A new, deeper voice cut through the argument, and everyone turned to see the silver mech walk in, his hands empty. "I know why Frenzy attacked her."

Optimus raised a brow ridge. "Really, Jazz? Care to explain?"

Jazz hesitated, but with a glare at Aldrin, continued. "Her father's a high-ranking general in the military." He said simply. "If Frenzy and Barricade could get a hold of her, they could use her as leverage against him and exploit his close ties to the main men in power in this country. They could force this country into war with other countries over trivial things and scale up their invasion attempt when they're not paying attention."

Aldrin's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

Jazz looked down at him, optics hard. "Katie told me."

"But Katie doesn't –"

He was interrupted by Lennox. "She knows more than you think." He said quietly, looking at the higher-ranking man. "Just because she doesn't talk doesn't mean that she doesn't know what's going on around her. She is good at putting two pieces of information together."

Aldrin sighed. "Where is she? I need to talk to her."

Jazz glared down at him; he could even feel it. "She's in her room. Crying. I'm going back, Optimus." With a nod at his leader, he disappeared out the door and down the hall.

Optimus looked at the uneasy squad on the platform. "Have you any suggestions?"

-

When Jazz returned to their room, he found Katie where he left her; on the bed, wedging her back in a corner and staring blankly into space, tears still sliding down her face. He closed the door behind him and sat down in front of her, watching as she looked up and met his optics.

He knew that look: it meant that she wanted to go somewhere to forget what just happened. Thinking, he checked his chronometer: early afternoon. Lots of things to do.

"Let's go to the fair." Jazz suggested, and Katie jerked her head back up and looked at him. "We have plenty of time."

Katie blinked then smiled slightly. "Sure. Let me change and we can head off." She rasped, getting up slowly.

-

In holo-form, Jazz couldn't eat, but he could smell. The smells at the fair sent him wide-eyed and staring, looking around to find where they came from. There was the smell of animals that came from the petting-zoo, food from the various booths, and many other smells that he couldn't identify. Sounds came also; screams of glee and fear from the roller coasters, the sound of the engines running, and the loud voices of the fair-goers around them.

He followed Katie dutifully, pointing out game and rides he wanted to try, and indulgently, she let him, usually joining him, especially when it came to the rides. Enraptured in the fun of the fair, neither noticed police car lurking in the shadows with a silver boom box resting on its dashboard.

'You wanna go _again_?' Katie signed with a laugh, standing with Jazz in front of the roller coaster. She had so much fun and screamed so much on the rides that her throat was sore and she had resorted to sign-language.

Jazz's hologram laughed. "Sure? Why not? We can get one last ride then head back to the base."

Katie laughed and checked their tickets. 'We don't have enough, but that's fine; I'll go over and get a few more at the front. Take the rest and play games or something; I'll be back in a few minutes, so don't go too far.'

After a pause, Jazz agreed and watched the human disappear from view in the throngs of people, and kept a sensor on her as he looked over the games near him. There were darts, and he had enough tickets to play a few games. Perhaps he could get a stuffed animal for Katie. With a smile, he handed over his tickets and picked up his darts.

-

Katie paused, walking slowly toward the ticket line. She didn't like the feeling of something slowly but surely stalking her. Watching her, creeping silently after her through the ever-changing crowds.

She paused slightly when she heard the whoop of a police siren coming from behind her. She turned to find a police car a few stalls down from her, flicking its sirens at the humans between it – him – and her so they moved. She didn't need to look for "to punish and enslave" written in neat white cursive on his sides; a look through the windshield proved that it wasn't an ordinary police car. Well, she supposed in some back corner of her mind, if in the last week she had been at the Autobot base they had somehow managed to make sentient police cars, this could be one of them, but it wasn't likely. Not at all.

Without hesitation, she bolted, weaving through stalls and rides, trying to put as many obstacles between her and the police car of doom as possible. Skidding around the corner, she ran into the parking lot, weaving beneath cars and ducking around them, trying to find where Jazz had parked his physical body.

Katie tried to call him, but her voice came out in a croak. Growling to herself, she ran down the aisles of cars as Barricade caught up. Looking over her shoulder, she could see the boom box from hell (Frenzy, she corrected herself) leaning out the open window, waiting and ready to jump out at her.

Just as the slender silver bot leapt, Barricade transformed and was immediately tackled by a running silver Pontiac Solstice, knocking both head over metallic heels while Katie was knocked into the asphalt by Frenzy. By some stroke of luck (mostly ill luck) she was knocked into a grassy ravine that cushioned her fall a little. Frenzy was knocked loose, and as she scrambled to her feet and attempted to get out of the ravine, he was back on his own feet and leaping at her, shrieking and clicking in Cybertronian.

Katie had coiled her legs when she fell on her back, and when Frenzy leapt at her, she kicked out hard, catching him in the chest and sending him flying a ways back. Scrambling to her feet, she made it out of the ravine before he could get back at her, and ran toward the red and blue Peterbilt semi that had just driven into the parking lot.

Once more, Frenzy pounced on her, and somehow Barricade managed to grab her by her leg, hoisting her up into the air in a bone-crushing grip. Katie heard a sickening _crack_, and she realized as the pain shot to her head, that Barricade had cracked (or worse, broke) her leg.

In some, relatively sane and calm part of her mind, Katie was glad that she had decided _not_ to wear a skirt to the fair. In the more here-and-now part of her mind, she was shrieking and swooning in pain, practically doing a panic-dance at being lifted _by the leg_ into the air.

Next thing she knew, she was thrown through the air and caught in familiar four-clawed hands which curled protectively around her. Not caring anymore if she lived or died – she just wanted the pain to end! – she blacked out and knew nothing more.

* * *

**Well, there's obviously no songs in this chapter. I'll see if I can get another chapter up tonight, but I'm not sure about Saturday and Sunday, as I'm going to be a bit busy, but I'll try my best. :)**


	12. Break

**((yawns)) Okay, it's late, and I gotta wake up early tomorrow. This is definitely all for today. I'll see if I can get something up tomorrow, but I won't make any promises. ((sigh))**

* * *

She looked so frail, lying there on the white hospital sheets, her left leg wrapped in a cast. The doctors had said it was only a fracture, and though it wasn't good, it wasn't a break, and it wasn't infected. They had set the bone and wrapped it in a cast, and Katie was to wear it for a good while.

Jazz looked down at the human – who he was charged to protect – and gently, touched her hand as the door behind him opened. Without having to turn, he knew that Aldrin Keynes was glaring daggers at him, no doubt blaming him for the injuries to his daughter.

"You have some guts, showing up here." He growled, and Jazz looked at him over his shoulder, adjusting the sheets that covered the human girl. "After all, it is your fault she's here."

"The blame doesn't fall on me, and I'm sure Katie doesn't blame me even if you do." Jazz snapped back.

Keynes growled. "Stay away from my daughter."

Jazz glared at him over his shoulder. "I see that it will be a bit difficult, considering Optimus assigned us to the same room at the base, and gave me the job of her guardian."

"A job which I assure you, you will be relieved of." There was a dangerous rumble in the general's voice, and Jazz gave him an icy glare.

"You are trying to intimidate me, scare me even. You forget who I am, and you are ignorant of my history. I have spent thousands of years fighting a war since I was able to hold a gun, and explored countless planets. I have even faced death, and have been ripped in half, so why should I be afraid of you?"

Aldrin gripped the flowers he held for Katie tighter, and turning around to face him, Jazz noticed them for the first time. "I want to speak with my daughter alone." Golden eyes narrowed, Jazz regarded the older human, and taking off the field that made his hologram life-like and solid, he backed up through the bed until he was on the other side.

"She won't wake up for a while," he said eyes still narrowed at the general. "Nevertheless I will leave you two alone."

"Wise choice." Jazz ignored the threat and sneer, looking at the bouquet of pink daisies.

"She hates pink, and doesn't care for daisies much." He told Aldrin in a flat tone, ignoring the crunch of the cellophane wrapping as the general tightened his grip on the poor flowers. "If you talked with her more, you'd know that." With a final touch to Katie's hand, the hologram disappeared, leaving father and daughter alone.

-

'My nurse likes pink.' Katie signed the next day when Aldrin asked where his flowers had gone. 'She was so sad because her husband filed for a divorce after three years of marriage, and she was so nice to me: I wanted to see her happy.' She looked at the bunches of flowers arrayed neatly at the window. 'I don't think there are enough nurses in the hospital to give these away.'

Aldrin frowned to himself and went to look at them. There were nine neat little colored glass vases, each lined in a perfectly straight line where they could get some sunlight. The first was more like a little pan, colored a deep, royal blue with frosted swirls in it. There, in the center of it rested an indigo-tinged lotus flower. The next vase was a deep bronze with red and gold roses. The third was a pot, and oddly enough, it held a green orchid with purple spots.

The fourth and fifth had similar clear vases, though the fourth held a handful of red roses, and the fifth held a few lilies. The sixth held a large bunch of orange roses, seventh held white Casablanca lilies, the eighth held a collection of lavender pansies, their puckered faces looking at Aldrin as he went to the largest of the bunch. They were a large bunch of bright golden daffodils, mixed with white daffodils and surrounded elegantly by sterling silver roses.

"Who are these from?" Aldrin asked, running an appreciative finger over the daffodils.

'In order from left to right,' Katie smiled slightly at that, and then continued on after looking at a list on the table next to her. 'Optimus, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, Wheeljack and Ratchet, Sam, Mikaela, Lennox, Epps, Bumblebee, and Jazz.'

A flash of silver outside caused Aldrin to look outside in time to see a silver Pontiac Solstice pull into the parking lot. That was all the warning he had: a second later, Jazz's hologram appeared on Katie's right.

"How ya doin, Kitty?" Katie smiled, a genuine smile, Aldrin noted sourly.

'I'm fine, Jazz. Thanks for the flowers; they're beautiful. You'll have to tell everyone else "thank you" for me.' Jazz squeezed her hand with one hand and patted her head with the other.

"Will do, Kitty. Do you hurt any?"

Katie made a face. 'They won't let me move around much, and I hate it. I'm already behind on my work.'

Jazz chuckled warmly. "Well, I'm sure they'll discharge you soon."

Katie gave him a mock-warning look. 'Jazz, don't hack the computers,'

Jazz laughed now. "Darn, ya caught me."

Katie gave him a playful punch which phased through him. She made a face at him as he laughed even harder and sat down next to her. As Aldrin watched almost jealously, they talked a bit, and Katie laughed and seemed very happy. In mid-sentence ten minutes later, however, Jazz tilted his head to the side, and seemed to zone out for about a minute.

"Sorry, lil Kitty, but the Big Boss is callin' and like a good soldier, I gotta go." Jazz said, standing and smiling ruefully down at Katie who returned the smile.

'I suppose it was a bit selfish of me to distract you like this.' She signed, but stopped at Jazz's warning look. 'Well, I'll see you later, I guess.'

Jazz nodded and winked out, giving Aldrin an almost smug look as he did so.

Katie sighed when he was gone, and watched wistfully as the Solstice backed out of his stall and drove out of the parking lot, disappearing down the street. Aldrin regarded her worriedly then stepped forward. "Katie," her head turned slowly to look at him with steady eyes. "I want you to stay away from him."

-

…_one week later…_

"We've picked up some odd signals," Aldrin told Optimus, motioning to his tech. sergeant to step forward with the readings. "They're similar to yours, but not quite the same and they're located on the opposite end of the state. I have sent three top-of-the-line infiltrators, and none of them have returned, and none of them have submitted any data since they've arrived."

"I see." Optimus said, leaning down and reading the papers the tech. sergeant held out for him. "It may be the Decepticon base. I'll send someone over."

Aldrin shook his head. "They better be good at what they do, or they'll end up like my men."

"Don't worry: Jazz is very good at what he does. He's the best saboteur and infiltrator we have here, not to mention the only one." Bumblebee piped up from his position against the wall.

Upon hearing his name, Aldrin frowned. "I'm sorry, Prime, but I don't trust Jazz."

Bumblebee, Lennox, Epps, and Sam bristled at that, but Prime merely raised an optic ridge. "I do, general, if that means anything to you. He has served under me for a very, very long time, and we are good friends as well as comrades." Optimus looked at Bumblebee. "We could send Bumblebee, but…"

"I'm not qualified for a mission like this. I'm a spy, not an infiltrator like Jazz." Bumblebee finished with a shrug.

Seeing the general's protests beginning to die, Optimus turned to Bumblebee. "Go get Jazz, please."

Bumblebee nodded and walked out.

-

Katie was gone. Jazz had returned a few days later – he knew she'd understand that he was busy and couldn't always find the time to visit her in the hospital – to find her room empty, the flowers gone from their window, and her belongings gone. An old lady had replaced her, and it was easy for him to convince her it was a dream, that she was senile before disappearing into thin air.

Her house was still empty; there was no indication that anyone had been there recently, and he had turned dejectedly back to the base. He asked Optimus if she had been there earlier, and received a negative; the only humans who had entered the base were Lennox, Epps, Sam, Mikaela, and Aldrin.

He walked into the room they shared, to find the cot neatly made, the bag of cat food gone, along with Snowy's carrier, her belongings, and Snowy himself. Ratchet and Wheeljack couldn't explain it, as they were pet-sitting the finches at the time; everything of Katie's was gone from the base, save for the finches.

Jazz shifted until he was slouched further in his seat, glaring balefully at the wall between the twins who were giving him worried glances. He had been like that since he had discovered that Katie had practically disappeared off the face of the earth four days ago.

"Jazz?" the hard gaze was switched from the wall to Bumblebee who shifted nervously.

"Not in the mood, 'Bee." Was the terse answer.

"I know, Jazz, but they want you in the meeting room." The yellow and black mech said, shuffling under his glare.

"There's a meeting in session." At first he had attended the daily meetings, contributing and sharing ideas with the squad of humans. When he discovered Katie gone with no explanation and no missing person's report, he had stopped going, mostly because Aldrin always looked so… smug.

"I know, but they told me to come and get you." with a sigh, Jazz stood slowly and followed the younger mech down the hall and into the meeting room.

"**Jazz, are you okay?"** Optimus asked quietly in Cybertronian and hiding his dejection, Jazz nodded.

"**Just peachy, Prime."** Was the simple reply. In English, he said "What do you want?" He listened as Aldrin grudgingly filled him in on the readings they got, and what they think it's from.

"If you go just above the speed limit and not stop to rest, you should get there in…"

"No." Jazz cut Optimus off.

Surprised, Prime stared at the saboteur. "What?"

"No. I won't do it."

Prime sighed and rubbed his forehead, a gesture he had picked up from the humans. "Why not?"

"When Katie suggested that I come and visit you guys, I told her that I didn't want to fight anymore. What kind of hypocrite would I be if I went against my word now?" Jazz shook his head, glaring at Aldrin. "I won't do it, so you can stop giving me your distrustful glare, Keynes." With a growl at him and a nod at Optimus, he left as abruptly as Katie had done.

-

He felt like running into a building, but he knew that it would only get Ratchet mad at him. Nevertheless, he was tempted as the sturdier buildings in town whizzed past him. With a sigh, he resisted the temptation and drove on into the countryside on the opposite side of town from Katie's house-in-the-middle-of-nowhere. He screeched to a halt when he saw a human sitting beneath the shade of a tree just off the road.

"Katie?"

The human looked up, and joy blossomed across her face. She leapt up awkwardly and limped over as he transformed. She wrapped her arms around his leg as far as she could reach while he bent to pat her back gently.

'Papa considers you a bad influence on me, and refuses to let me see you guys,' she announced before he could ask. 'I wanted to, Jazz, I really did, but I didn't have a car, and I couldn't ride a bike very well, what with my cast. It also doesn't help that I'm in the middle of nowhere.' She leaned her cheek against the armor of his leg, and gently, he picked her up.

"Well, I'm here, and you're here. It's nice to see you again, Little Kitty."

Katie smiled. "Same to you, Jazzy." Content and happy for the first time in a week, she sat down in his hand and they talked.

'Let's go back to Papa's house.' She said after an hour. 'I'll get my stuff and we can head back to the base.' She was rewarded with a grin from Jazz who set her down and transformed, opening his door for her.

"Won't you get in trouble?" it occurred to him the repercussions of her actions, and was replied with a snort from Katie.

"As if I care anymore." She said, her voice still slightly raspy. "I'd rather be in trouble with you, then miserable and doing the right thing without you."

* * *

**Aww, how sweet. This concludes the chapters for today. Ina out. ((flops down on bed))**


	13. Family

**I might not post something tomorrow 'till later, so heads-up. I'm going with my father for dinner tonight, so this is all for today.**

* * *

Jazz took note of Katie's silence as they drove, and the way she folded her hands in her lap. "What's the matter, Little Kitty?"

Katie was silent for a little while, thinking, mulling over what to say. "Papa's afraid. He doesn't want to lose me, and he thinks that if I stay with you guys, you'll get me to turn my back on him like Mama did to him. In a sense he's just as scarred as I am."

Jazz's seatbelt wrapped tighter around Katie, his version of a hug in car-mode. That was all the prompting she needed to continue.

"The hospital discharged me a day after your last visit, and Papa took me to his house to rest. He hid the keys to his truck, and I don't know what he did with my flowers; gave them away most likely. He doesn't want me to get hurt, and feels bad that he wasn't there for me, that I had to turn to giant robots from outer space to be happy." She shifted slightly, and closed her mouth on what else she wanted to say.

Jazz's engine rumbled softly they slid to a stop at a stoplight. "What troubles you?" he asked quietly.

"You want to go home, don't you?" Katie blurted out, wincing and ducking her head.

Jazz was silent for a minute, thinking the question over. "I miss Cybertron, yes, but this is my home now, and I'm happy with it." Katie was silent, bringing a hand up to rub the small pendant around her neck, and Jazz zoomed in on it. "What's that?"

Katie looked down at it and frowned slightly. "A locket Papa gave me when I came home. He says that eagles represent people of noble nature, strength, bravery, and alertness, or one who is high-spirited, ingenious, quick-witted, and judicious." Judging by the way she rolled her eyes, he had stated it often.

"Katie," Jazz said in a warning tone. He could tell that she was hiding something, and it was hurting her, judging by the choppy way she spoke, and her willingness to switch to a different topic.

The human cringed and looked down, giving up on pretending she was actually driving. "Papa," she began then stopped, hesitating. "I love him; he's my father, but sometimes he is so…insensitive. He only sees things from a military man's point of view, not a normal man's."

Though he was angry, Jazz forced his tone to be mild. "How so?"

Katie hesitated. "I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but he said a lot of very insensitive things, and unfortunately, I couldn't do anything but listen. He may have brainwashed me a bit." She admitted.

This time, Jazz couldn't hide the angry growl of his engine. "What did he say?"

Though Katie knew he wasn't angry at her, she winced nevertheless. "A lot of stuff." She said quietly.

"Katie, please tell me. Yer actions are worrying me." Jazz said, forcing his voice to sound gentler.

Katie realized then that she was clutching the locket trapped in her grasp, her knuckles white and her fingernails digging into her palm, leaving crescent-shaped marks. Hanging her head, she proceeded to tell him, and once she started, she didn't stop. "He was trying to protect me, Jazz, I understand it, but it doesn't mean I like it, you know? It was horrible, living at his house for a week, hearing him come home, go to his study, and look over maps, protocols, and recordings of the meetings with him and Optimus. When I asked how you guys were – were there any new Autobots, how were the finches, or _anything_ related to you – he'd give me a sort of sad look and change the subject.

"The first thing he told me was that he didn't want me to be hurt, my heart broken because you left me. Then it grew worse, and it just…didn't seem at all like you, Jazz, but when he left me alone at home, I couldn't help but wonder. I hate myself now, for believing those lies, but I had no idea you didn't know where I was. I asked Papa to take notes to you guys, saying thank you for the flowers, how're my finches, and just to say hi, and he promised he'd take them to you while giving me that sad look again.

"Then he told me around the third day that you were planning on leaving me in his care, that you all thought it would be best for me to be with my dad so you can work on getting home." Jazz listened, turning off the main road and parking himself to listen with growing anger and horror.

When she was done, he activated his hologram and hugged her, allowing her to wrap her arms around his chest and bury her face in his shoulder. Her heart rate was unusually fast and the muscles on her back and shoulders were tense. He sighed and gently rubbed her back gently, trying to get her to calm down. Back at the base, he'd have a few things to talk with Prime about.

-

Katie woke groggily to lights in her face and a light blanket covering her on a soft bed. Slowly she sat up and looked around. Her stuff was in a neat corner, and Snowy's carrier was open and empty. The cat himself was sprawled on the bed next to her, blinking blearily up at her and yawning.

In the little message-carrying collar Katie and Ratchet had developed for him, was a small human-sized note which she eased out of the knot holding it in place.

'In a meeting with Prime. I'll be back in about an hour. Jazz.' She read to herself, stroking Snowy's back and settling herself back on the bed, pulling her laptop out of its case near her bed and flicking it open, began to type.

She checked her e-mail, and found one from her father. After a moment's hesitation, she opened it and read. With a growl, she deleted it and looked at the next one and the next until her inbox was empty.

"What do you think, Snowy?" she asked, bringing up the one about her mother's parole coming up and reading it over again. "Should I?"

Her only reply was a green-eyed stare.

-

"No. Absolutely _not!_" Silence. "Prime, Ratch', _say_ something!"

"Are you sure, Katie?" Optimus asked quietly and Katie nodded. "Then I cannot and will not say anything against it, save for you to be careful." Katie flashed him a smile in thanks and nodded.

She and Jazz looked at Ratchet who didn't look happy about being singled out. "Have you taken your mental health into mind when you decided this?" he asked at last, and Katie raised an eyebrow at him. Ratchet sighed. "Okay, I don't see much reason to hold you back and baby you about it, so I approve on the grounds you take Jazz and the twins."

"What?!" Jazz roared, causing everyone to stare at him in surprise.

"Take us where?" Sideswipe asked in the ensuing silence.

"What if they stay a distance away but still follow?" Katie asked, eyeing the twins who eyed her right back.

"So long as they're present." Optimus nodded at Ratchet's reasoning.

"I agree." He rumbled.

"Wait a minute. Where are we going?"

"Don't I get a say in this?" Jazz roared, drawing silence once more.

"No, not really." Katie said calmly, easily accepting the angry glare Jazz gave her, giving him a _look_ with her own powerful gaze.

At last, Jazz sighed and consented at last, with a great sigh. "Tomorrow, you say?"

Sunstreaker coughed. "Where are we going?"

Snowy, who sat at Katie's feet, hissed as Katie looked at him and his brother. "To pick up my mother."


	14. Logic

**Just _why_ Katie wants to pick up her mother. -.-;**

**Hmm. I should work on some of my other stories... I'll try for another chapter tonight; hooray for Labor Day weeked. ((weak cheer))**

* * *

"Okay. If she's the one that made you mute in the first place, why _in Primus' name_ are you dead set on picking her up?" Jazz growled, pacing the room while Katie typed on her laptop. "It makes no sense!"

Katie looked up at her guardian who paid no attention to her look and continued to pace.

"Jazz, please stop; you're distracting me." Ratchet said sourly, looking up briefly from repairing a dent in Sunstreaker's arm. Sideswipe sat next to his brother swinging his legs childishly. A zebra finch sat on each shoulder, and another one on his leg.

"I don't understand it either, Katie." Sideswipe admitted, playing with the finch on his knee.

With a sigh, Katie put her laptop on the side, closing it and waiting for Jazz to stop grumbling and swearing before answering. "I believe it will help my mental wellbeing."

"How so?" Ratchet asked, intrigued.

"Well, if you think about it, I have lived in fear of her for most of my life, and that was the reason I couldn't and wouldn't talk." Katie explained. "I can talk some now, but not as much as I'd like. Sometimes, I have to force the words to come." She looked down at her hands. "And sometimes when I'm dreaming, I dream of what happened all over again. I see her standing above me, once with a frying pan, another with a wooden spoon, and the list goes on."

She was silent for a while, and no one prompted her to continue. "Mrrow." Snowy rubbed his head against her side and idly, she reached down and stroked his head, scratching his ears fondly.

"I know nothing about your pasts, but I assume that in a sense, you're all hurting inside like me." Katie said slowly, looking down at the tabby who began to purr. "I assume that you have found ways around them and in some sense, even made it past the obstacles they made. I however, have not. Not like you have," she paused when Snowy crawled into her lap, curling up and looking at her, exposing his pale belly to be scratched. "I have thought long and hard about what happened to me, and what I could do to stop my irrational fear of her."

"It's not irrational." Jazz and Ratchet told her flatly in unison, and Katie ignored them.

"Ralph Waldo Emerson says 'Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain'. I found that quote the day after Papa e-mailed me about Mama's parole." She ignored Jazz's mutter of "I don't see _why_ you still call her that" and continued on regardless. "In the hospital, I had plenty of time to think it over, and when I wasn't wallowing in self-pity, I thought more about it and came to the conclusion that if I face Mama, I'll stop being afraid of her. If I show her that I'm no longer afraid of her, that I have gotten over what she's done to me, I'll feel better about living my life."

Silence reined in the med-bay for a few minutes, a silence broken only by Ratchet's tools and Snowy's purring.

Jazz was silent, sulking in the corner, but Katie could tell he was mulling over her words. At last, Ratchet sighed and put down his tool. "Though I don't like it, I agree with your reasoning. Sometimes the best way to get over our fears is to face it."

Katie nodded, watching Jazz grumbling to himself. With a sigh, he quieted and Katie knew he agreed with her logic, if grudgingly. "Can I help you, Bumblebee?" Ratchet asked mildly as the yellow mech walked in with Aldrin cupped in one hand, and Sam and Mikaela in the other.

He stopped abruptly in surprise, staring openly at Katie and Snowy. Evidently he didn't know that she was back, and neither did Sam and Mikaela, judging by the way they stared. The moment Jazz spotted Aldrin, he was on his feet and hovering anxiously near the berth Katie was on.

Aldrin didn't notice her immediately as Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee had. Instead, he read a stack of papers in his hand. Cautiously, after a quick look at the defensive stance Jazz had taken, he placed the humans on the other end of the berth.

Snowy, who knew that his owner wasn't happy with her father, fluffed his fur and was on his feet in seconds, ears flat to his skull. When Aldrin was on the berth, he fluffed up even further and let out a territorial hiss.

At that, Aldrin looked up. The first thing he saw was Jazz who loomed above him, despite being on the other end of the berth. Next was Snowy, and lastly it was Katie who sat bristling behind her cat. "Katie?" he asked incredulously, leaping to his feet and sending papers scattering.

Startled, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe hopped to their feet as well, taking in the suddenly-tense atmosphere of the med-bay. "Uh, we'll be going. See you tomorrow morning, Katie." Sideswipe said after looking anxiously between them. That being said, they beat a hasty retreat.

"Katie? What are you doing here?" He winced as Snowy's hissing took on a higher volume, effectively sending the chirping zebra finches into silence. Jazz's engine growled and he put his claws protectively on either side of Katie.

"What do you care?" Katie snapped back, causing her father to start in surprise at her angry tone.

"Katie," he said in a warning tone, and winced as Jazz's claws clenched, sending a screeching sound echoing through the med-bay.

"Don't try that tone on me." Katie growled, surprising everyone with the amount of venom in her voice.

"Katie," his tone had changed to a one of pleading.

"Have you considered how _I_ felt when you locked me up?" she hissed, talking a step forward, and then another. Snowy stayed right beside her, ears still flat and walking stiffly. Then she was right in his face, nose to nose, blue-hazel eyes to blue-hazel eyes. "You've never spoken to me, though I've e-mailed and sent letters to you. Once I was eighteen, you disappeared from my life, and the next time I see you, I'm twenty-nine, and you pretend that nothing happened. It's like I didn't exist, and the only times you acknowledged my existence was when you gave me Snowy, and when you asked me to breakfast."

"Katie, no, I –" _SLAP!_ Aldrin was spun around by the force of her slap, and he fell to the ground, staring up at her and holding one hand to his smarting cheek, staring up at her.

"Don't bull-shit me." Katie hissed. "You want me to be safe, that I know. You don't want my heart to be broken, I know that too. But sometimes I wonder if you are just an emotionless piece of–"

"Katie," Sam ventured, and Snowy turned on him, fangs bared with an angry yowl. "C-carry on."

Katie, however, didn't hear him. "You locked me away thinking it was good for me – no, not good, _the best_ for me, but I bet you didn't consider that perhaps the best thing for me was to make my own choices! So listen here, Aldrin Keynes," the general winced when he heard her say his full name instead of calling him 'Papa.' "I'm still your daughter, but I'm still a person you know; treat me like a _friend_, not a criminal or a child."

With a flourish, she whirled around and walked onto Jazz's hand after picking up her laptop. She voiced a whistle and after hissing at Aldrin once more, Snowy loped over. The med-bay was silent long after they left.

Sam walked over and gave Aldrin a hand which he took after realizing that Sam was shoving his hand in his face for a few minutes. "Heh. She sure packs a punch, eh general?" Dazed, Keynes took the offered hand and hauled himself to his feet. "She must be pretty mad to start swearing like that."

"Yeah." Aldrin murmured, staring after his daughter.

"**You have to admit, though. She has some pretty good logic."** Ratchet muttered to Bumblebee who snorted after he was filled in on the conversation before they arrived.

"**There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is Katie."** The Camaro replied dryly.

* * *

**Okay. The last bit of dialogue is based on a quote on logic I found, said by Edward Abbey: "There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California." All the quotes in this chapter are found at www . brainy quote . com. Very useful at finding handy quotes. :)**


	15. Parole

**Oi. O.o I'm running on five hours of sleep and a bottle of iced coffee which is unfortunately wearing off. D: This is the last chapter for todays.**

_

* * *

__Trying to find my way  
__Been through the darkness  
__Now I finally have my day  
__And I will see my dreams come alive at last  
__I will touch the sky  
__And they're not gonna hold me down no more  
__No they're not gonna change my mind_

_Cause I've got faith of the heart  
__I'm going where my heart will take me  
__I've got faith to believe  
__I can do anything  
__I've got strength of the soul  
__No one's going to bend or break me  
__I can reach any star  
__I've got faith  
__Faith of the heart_

Katie raised an eyebrow at Jazz's radio and rolled her eyes when he only turned it louder. She leaned against his side, arms crossed.

"Aww, Jazz! What's with the weird song?" Sideswipe whined, and Katie kicked his tire.

The song faded out as they waited and a new song began to play.

_When you feel all alone  
__And the world has turned its back on you  
__Give me a moment please to tame your wild, wild heart  
__I know that you feel like the walls are closing in on you  
__It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold  
__When darkness is upon your door and you feel like you can't take it anymore_

_Let me be the one you call  
__If you jump I'll break your fall  
__Lift you up and fly away with you into the night  
__If you need to fall apart  
__I can mend a broken heart  
__If you need to crash, then crash and burn  
__You're not alone_

"Okay, Jazz, I get it." Katie said, patting his hood.

Jazz gave a very un-car-like snort but turned off the music when a rather grumpy-looking woman approached. She was shorter than Katie who had apparently gotten her height from her father, with pale skin and long red hair tied in a braid behind her head. Cold green eyes stared out above a sharp nose, and had she been anyone but Katie's mother, he would've winced at the ferocious and unattractive look and poise she carried.

When she saw Katie, she walked over and stopped, looking at her daughter with a disdainful eye. "They told me tha' ay blood relateeve came to pick me up." She said in a heavy accent and a sniff. "Ay waz hopeeng for someone else."

"Well, too bad; you'll have to deal with me." Katie replied stiffly, to her mother's irritation.

"What have ay told you?" she growled and Katie raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, let me tell you something, Marie. I'm afraid I'll have to thank you for doing what you did." Marie, her mother, sputtered at that. "It was horrid, I know, but it made me who I am today, so I'll have to thank you. On a more depressing, common-sense note, you can yell, scream, and beat me all you want, but we're right in front of the police station where they just let you out on parole. I wouldn't do nothin' stupid if I were you. Knowing you, you won't be able to help it, so I thought I'd give you a warning."

"How dare you." Marie hissed and Katie snorted. "You –"

"Threats mean nothing to me; I've already had a bad month and snapped at Pere today, so don't push it." Katie said idly, leveling Marie with a cold glare. "In fact, you can take your threats and shove 'em where the sun don't shine."

At this, Marie looked fit to be tied. She sputtered for a bit, but was a bit put out – visibly so – when Katie, true to her word, didn't react to her shrieking.

"If you're ready, we can get going." Katie said idly, checking her watch. "I have things to do today, and having to pick you up ain't helpin' them."

"You are ze most ungrateful leetle brat Ay've ever met!" Marie snapped as Katie walked to the driver's side.

She poked her head over the roof and smiled at her mother. "Thank you, Mere." Opening the door, she paused then sat down in the driver's seat; closing the door behind her and watching her mother look around.

"What eez zis monstrosity of a carr?" the growl of Jazz's engine in reply to that comment was hidden as Katie pretended to start the engine.

"He's a Pontiac Solstice. Top of the line sports car." Katie knew she'd get merry hell from the twins later (they were listening in) and frankly, she didn't care. "Let's get going, shall we?"

After driving out of the prison parking lot, Katie flicked the radio dial and it turned on, playing a soft country song.

_There I was ten years old  
__Waiting in my room for him to come home  
__I just knew he'd be so mad  
__Though I begged my mother not to, she told my dad.  
__There was no denying I let him down  
__But instead of being angry  
__He put his arms around me and said_

_In the sunlight or the rain, brightest nights or darkest days  
__I'll always feel the same way  
__Whatever road you may be on  
__Know you're never too far gone my love is there wherever you may be  
__Just remember that you'll always be my baby_

Of course Jazz had something to do with the choice of song, but oh well; it was nice to listen to.

"What eez zat music?" Marie snapped, covering her ears. "Eet eez horrible!"

Katie snorted. "Wait till you hear rap. Now _that's_ horrible." She hid a smirk by pretending to check to see if anyone was coming. She had forgotten until then that her mother hated country music, preferring opera or classical.

"And you? What haz happened to you?" Marie asked, giving her daughter who she despised a heated glare. "Marriage? Boyfriends? Keeds?"

Katie snorted. "Please, Mere. You really expect me to find someone who I can live with for a good deal of time?"

"You need to marry." Marie snapped. "You're much too old to be seengle. I was married and had you before ay waz your age."

Katie rolled her eyes. "I know, but it's another thing you'll have to deal with." The song ended and a new one began; evidently Jazz had figured out that Marie didn't like country music.

_The rocking horse came  
__From an old oak tree  
__Just missed the house  
__When it was hit by lightning  
__My daddy painted that horse  
__A midnight blue  
__Shooting stars and silver horse shoes  
__And it was something magic out of something frightening_

_That's how I live my life,  
__I take it as it comes  
__And I find the hidden love  
__When it's pouring down on me  
__In my mind I see  
__The rocking horse inside the tree_

_A broken heart  
__Means deeper feelings  
__A thorn in the flesh  
__Means room for healing  
__Oh salt in your tears  
__Can open your eyes  
__Wounded years  
__Make you realize  
__It's just something magic out of  
__Something frightening_

She rolled her eyes, but to irritate her mother, nodded her head and mouthed the words to the song.

"So. Why are you talkeeng? Aldreen told me the last time we spoke you were steel mute."

Katie cast a side-long glance at her then shrugged. "My friend helped me. It turns out he actually cares about my well-being unlike some people I can name. He helped me get my voice back."

"Pah. Zat eez too bad. Ay waz hopeeng you would stay mute forever, but alas, weeshes do not always come true." Katie stiffened at that. "Perhaps I'll cut out your throat thees time."

"You'd get arrested and sent back to jail." Katie told her mother flatly. "Then there's the problem of you catching me; I have a tendency to be very elusive."

The rest of the country song was cut off as the radio station changed abruptly, the volume turning up to high.

_Oh we're not gonna take it  
__No, we ain't gonna take it  
__Oh we're not gonna take it anymore_

_We've got the right to choose and  
__There ain't no way we'll lose it  
__This is our life, this is our song  
__We'll fight the powers that can be just  
__Don't pick our destiny cause  
__You don't know us, you don't belong_

_Oh we're not gonna take it  
__No, we ain't gonna take it  
__Oh we're not gonna take it anymore_

_Oh you're so condescending  
__Your gall is neverending  
__We don't want nothin'  
__Not a thing from you  
__Your life is trite and jaded  
__boring and confiscated  
__If that's your best,  
__Your best won't do_

This time, Katie couldn't hold back a laugh. "It's true, you know." She told her before singing along. Obviously finding amusement in this, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe pulled alongside them, blasting the same song in complete unison.

"TURN DOWN THAT HIDEOUS NOISE AT ONCE!" Marie roared, covering her ears. Apparently when she yelled, her accent all but disappeared.

"What?" Katie asked, pretending she couldn't hear her mother. "If you don't like this, I can't imagine the culture shock you'll get when you have a listen to more modern music." Naturally, Marie didn't hear her, and Katie didn't care.

They pulled up to the house and Katie stopped the music. Thankfully they had reached the farmhouse-like plot at the exact moment the song ended. "You'll be staying at Pere's house. He kept your things, but I don't know if they'll fit."

"Come here." Marie sniffed, and Katie stepped closer. Without warning, Marie lashed out with her hand. Jazz was all for transforming (or activating his hologram) and beating the slag out of the woman, and the twins were right behind him, but Katie was prepared. The blow aimed for her face breezed over her head. Marie, who had a slow reaction, took a while before realizing that she didn't hit her daughter. She threw a punch aiming for Katie's stomach, but Katie took a step to the side, grabbing her mother's wrist and one hand and hitting her brachioradialis hard with a knuckle with the other hand.

With a whirl of silvery skirts, Marie found herself on her back in the hard-packed dirt. "If you excuse me, Mere, I have things to do." Kicking up a puff of dust in the general direction of her mother, Katie walked back to the car which had begun to play the song over again.

* * *

**A rather bad attempt at a French accent, but oh well. Eh, let's see.**

**Songs used in order:  
"Faith of the Heart" by Rod Stewart  
"Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden  
"You'll Always Be My Baby" by Sara Evans  
"Rocking Horse" by Sara Evans  
"We're Not Gonna Take It" by Bif Naked, I think**

**Uh, lesse. "Mere" means "mother" in French, and "Pere" means "father" in French as well. **

**The brachioradialis is located on yer forearm. If you hold yer arm out straight, holding your hand parallel to the ground, the the lump of muscle just in front of your elbow is the brachioradialis, I believe. My father taught me self-defense, and made me practice hitting his. If you hit it hard enough, yer arm 'comes numb. :) It's kinda cool, but hurts. ):**


	16. Interlude

**Hmm... not much to say, 'cept that I'm sorry for not updating earlier. Procrastination + morning bridging ceremony + shopping ((shudder)) + English paper + more procrastination equals - late update. D:**

* * *

Biting her lip, Katie waited until the small convoy of vehicles disappeared down the deserted road and out of sight from her now-dusty mother before breaking down in silent laughter, shaking and tearing. 

Jazz, who didn't know yet that she was laughing, panicked and stopped, causing the twins to swerve around him to avoid collision, and Katie to jerk in her seat.

"Jazz, you big oaf! What was that for?" she asked, and then he heard the laughter in her voice.

Her sentiments were echoed by Sunstreaker and Sideswipe before Jazz could reply to her query. She flicked his radio, and getting what she was trying to tell him, he turned the radio on to their comm. frequency. "You guys can go back to the base if you like." She told them. "I will be safe with Jazz, and what I set out to do is finished."

"You don't have to tell us twice." Sideswipe said while his brother grumbled about something. "See ya!" with that, they drove off, kicking up dirt and rocks in the process.

Jazz revved his engine angrily as rocks clattered against his grill, but a hand on his dashboard stopped him from getting any angrier than he already was. Gently, Katie undid her seatbelt and ran a hand down his steering wheel.

"Thanks, Jazz." She said at last, quietly.

His engine grumbled, but when he spoke, his tone was soft. "Fer what, Katie?"

"Being here with me," she murmured. "You've always been there for me when I needed you."

"You're my friend," He told her firmly. "And that's what friends do. They're always there, ready to help, to support you." He chuckled. "I only hope you do the same for me."

Katie was silent for a long while, but he could tell that she wasn't thinking over his words. Without warning, she put him into gear and began to drive, remaining silent.

"Where are we going?" Jazz asked, content to finally relax.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied. "You'll see." He did, in fact see a few minutes later when they pulled on the road that led to her house. As the tattered wall came into view, Katie slowed to a stop near the still-intact garage. "Don't transform." She called over her shoulder as she got out and began to walk into the garage, opening the closet and pulling out a bucket, sponge, and bottle of soap as well as a few towels and a chamois.

He watched silently as Katie hooked up the hose and filled the bucket first with water, then with suds. Holding up the soapy sponge, she turned to him. "Let's get you cleaned up, shall we?"

-

When Jazz and Katie returned to the base, an hour after they were supposed to arrive, everyone was worried. When Katie stepped out, completely soaked, everyone was both surprised and worried. When the newly cleaned and waxed Jazz transformed, everyone – actually, just Sunstreaker and Sideswipe – was indignant and envious.

"So what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Jazz asked, ignoring the twins and carrying his charge to their room.

Katie hesitated, and looked up at him. "Well, I'm thinking about going to visit Mama tomorrow." She admitted.

"Aw, Katie, no." Jazz sighed and shook his head. "If today it didn't go so well, what makes you think tomorrow it'll be better?"

She slid off his hand onto her bed and pulled out her laptop. "I don't expect it to." She replied easily. She smiled wryly. "If anything, I expect to end up practicing self-defense moves Papa taught me when I was twelve."

"Is he always so…paranoid?" Jazz asked, and Katie laughed, beginning to type.

"No, not really." She said. "He's just worried about me."

Jazz gave a snort in reply, and Katie smiled. "Yeah, sure. Whatever. So what else today?"

Katie shrugged. "Well, right now I'm typing up a report. I have some drawing to do, but otherwise, I have nothing planned."

Jazz made a show of yawning. "Dealing with your psycho mom has made me very tired and I'm going to take a nap, okay?"

Katie looked up at her guardian and rolled her eyes. "As if you care if I say 'no'." she said with a wry smile. "Go ahead, you big lump; I'll be in the med-bay if you need me."

Jazz snorted but offlined anyway, and Katie walked out the door with her laptop to the med-bay as she promised her guardian. "Mrr?" she looked down to find Snowy at her feet.

"Hey, Snowy. Wanna come along?" she asked and when she began walking again, the gray tabby followed.

-

Swinging her legs over the edge of the berth – she'd gotten used to the height already – Katie watched in amusement as a raving Ratchet repaired a repentant Bluestreak. Hey! Alliteration!

Wheeljack, however, was in the process of making a new cage for the finches, or at least a place – no, scratch that, a safe place _away from vicious and harmful chemicals and gasses_ – where her finches could sleep. Snowy watched on with mild interest before walking over to Bluestreak and climbing – much more gentler than he had with Ironhide – up to the gray mech's shoulder where he perched, glaring in all directions before settling himself down to rest.

Katie watched with interest as Wheeljack welded a few wooden perches with metal tips to the wall in a corner Katie had deemed safe enough for her finches. It was near the door, so she was one of the first to notice Optimus walking in with three humans on his large palm.

"-the med-bay." Optimus was saying, allowing the humans to look around. "Wheeljack is currently welding…something to the wall, Ratchet's fixing Bluestreak on the berth, and it looks like Snowy – Katie's cat – is resting on his shoulder. Katie's on the edge of the berth."

"Katie?" the older man asked, looking up at the Autobot leader.

"Yeah. The brown-haired blue-hazel-eyed 5' 7" girl swinging her legs over the edge of the berth that doesn't like people talking of her when they could just talk _to_ her."

He looked sheepishly at Katie whose arms were crossed across her chest. "Sorry, Miss –"

"Call me miss and I'll come over there and whap you upside the head." Was her retort, and he quieted.

"Katie, was it? I'm very sorry. I wasn't aware that you could hear us." The only woman in the three saw the way Katie's eyebrows snapped together, and decided that for once, she should save the Defense Secretary from a verbal flaying.

"Men." She said, rolling her eyes and drawing Katie's heated glare from the Defense Secretary. She walked over to the brunette when Optimus put them on the berth to talk with the girl. Katie stood and walked over to shake her hand.

"Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em." Katie said with a smirk.

"Name's Maggie and this is my advisor, Glenn. He's a hacker." She explained hurriedly when she noticed Katie's look at the way Glenn looked at both her and her laptop. Her gaze abated a bit, but didn't fully stop. "This is Defense Secretary Keller."

Katie gave them a glare, but did nothing and didn't take their offered hands. "Is Optimus giving you the tour?"

"Yes," Keller said awkwardly. "What's he doing?"

Katie looked at where he pointed and glared back at Keller. "_Wheeljack_'s welding perches to the wall. My finches have free-rein of the base because he broke my cage the first day they pet-sat."

"You're done, Bluestreak, now get out of my med-bay." Ratchet grumbled but made no move to enforce the order, instead turning to the humans. "I am Ratchet, Chief Medical Officer, the only person besides the twins, Jazz, and Katie who you don't want to mess with on a bad day."

"What's your definition of a bad day?" Maggie asked, and Katie giggled.

"Whenever she sics her pets on anyone." Ratchet grumbled with a mock glare at Katie who smiled innocently back up at him.

"Shall we move on?" Optimus asked and gratefully Keller and Glenn went on his hand.

"I'll see you later, Maggie." Katie said cheerfully, shaking the woman's hand again.

"I'll hold you to that," Maggie said with a laugh, stepping on after her friends.

-

"Bluestreak, come in tomorrow morning for a check-up." Ratchet said with a glare at the gunner who smiled sheepishly. "And you. Must you be so rude?"

Katie didn't take any offense, being used to mock arguments with the medic. "I'm not rude; I'm blunt and have no tact. There's a difference."

"No offense, Katie, but I don't see the logic behind that." Wheeljack said, turning around from welding the third perch to the wall.

"'There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is Katie'." Bluestreak quoted, smiling sheepishly when Katie mock glared at him.

"What is that, my new motto or something?" Katie demanded, throwing her arms in the air.

"More like our motto in regards to you and the insanity you seem to attract." Ratchet muttered, only to receive a shoe to the head a few seconds later.

* * *

**I'm rather fond of Katie's new motto-ish thing, as you can see. :)**

**What will happen next in round two of Katie vs. Marie? I found out that the meaning of the name Marie is "sea of bitterness". :D Whoo. Anywho, this is enough for tonight and I am going to bed soon. D: Wish there wasn't school tomorrow, but as Marie says "but alas, weeshes do not always come true." So, I bid you adieu, auf wiedersehen, au revoir, arrivederci, audios, cheerio, saiyounara, and good-bye. . . or at least, good night. :)**


	17. Rematch

**Running out of ideas, and as of now, I have no set ending for this. Any ideas?**

* * *

"The fair I think, is our best bet." Katie said to Jazz, who was carrying her to the med-bay to check on the perches and her finches. "I'll take her later in the afternoon so we can have a while to go around."

"I'm coming with you." Jazz said immediately as he put her down on the berth. Katie patted his wrist.

"Of course." She said with a smile. "But I'm not taking the twins." She looked up at the only patient in the med-bay at the moment. "What about you, Bluestreak? Wanna go to the fair?"

The gunner shifted anxiously and looked at Ratchet who sighed. "It's not strenuous, I suppose." The medic said at last. "So long as you make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, I'll allow it."

Any smart remarks Katie had were interrupted as her finches woke up and began to shriek for food.

-

"I hope you don't mind; Bluestreak told me you were going to the fair and I invited myself." Maggie said, leaning against the gunner's foot. Said gunner was grinning sheepishly down at the humans as Katie shook her head in amusement.

"I don't mind. In fact, the more the merrier. I'm just surprised that I'd think Bluestreak would keep his big mouth shut." She sniffed in mock irritation, causing Jazz and Maggie to laugh and Bluestreak to make up a feeble protest which was ignored when Katie turned to Jazz. "Well? Shall we be going?"

Jazz transformed as did Bluestreak after Maggie stepped away from his leg. When Maggie was about to get into Bluestreak's driver's seat, Katie drew her attention. "A quick warning, Maggie. My mother's…very different, and has issues with her temper. Please be careful what you say to her. You too, Bluestreak." Ignoring the worried looks Maggie and Bluestreak gave her, Katie got in the car and Jazz drove away.

-

"Zat car ees a monstrosity." Marie sniffed, looking over both Jazz and Bluestreak with a critical eye.

Katie rolled her eyes, ignoring the stiffening of Jazz's physical body and holographic one on either side of her. "Are you ready to go, Marie?"

"An' jus where are we goeeng?" she sniffed, looking at the casual state of attire her daughter was in.

"To the fair, Marie." Katie said, beginning to lose her patience.

"Ze fair, eh? Hmph. Very well. Jes make sure your…car behaves." Jazz bristled at that and taking no notice of him, Marie stepped into the passenger seat. Katie, with an apologetic glance at Jazz's hologram, stepped into the driver's seat while the hologram "sat" down in the backseat.

-

At the fair, Katie parked Jazz, and Maggie "parked" Bluestreak nearby. They met up with the rest of their group at the ticket booth, and only then did Marie take notice of Jazz who stood protectively next to Katie as she bought the tickets.

"And who are you?" Marie asked him when he turned around, ignoring Maggie and Bluestreak for the moment.

Jazz bristled at the accusatory tone and put a large hand on Katie's shoulder. "I'm her boyfriend." Katie nearly dropped the tickets at that. Marie looked surprised at that and turned on her daughter.

"Ay thought you said tha' you 'ad no boyfriend."

Katie looked at Jazz in alarm, and saw the message in his eyes. 'Play along.' He signed discreetly in case she didn't get the one in his eyes.

"Sorry, Mere. He just asked me this morning." She flashed her guardian a grateful glance before looking back at her mother. "These are my friends Maggie and … Black, but we call him 'Blue'." Maggie covered a laugh with a hand while Bluestreak looked confused.

"Dare Ay ask why?" Katie stiffened at the venom in her mother's voice and answered for Bluestreak.

"When we first met him he had blue hair and a black eye." Was the terse reply. Sensing the tension between the two, "Black" and Maggie said nothing, following carefully.

Though Maggie and Bluestreak had quickly begun a strong dislike for Marie and the way she treated her daughter, they said nothing, and not even Marie's sour attitude could dampen Bluestreak's wonder about the fair.

Katie, Jazz, and Maggie were willing enough to chase after him, but Marie wasn't. In fact, she disapproved of practically everything they did, especially when her daughter was involved.

A few minutes of sulky questions from Marie helped Jazz and Katie to discover that the more they pretended to actually be going out, the more she'd leave them alone, so they did just that. Whenever he had the chance, Jazz put his arms around Katie's shoulders and she'd lean into him, forcing herself to giggle whenever he whispered something in her ear.

On the roller coaster as they were ascending, Katie leaned against Jazz's shoulder tiredly. "She is so irritating." She mumbled, her voice muffled by his realistic shoulder.

"I know." He grumbled as they neared the top.

"How can you be talking so calmly on this?" Maggie yelped, ending in a scream as they tipped over the edge of the drop. Jazz and Katie paid no attention to her, remaining silent on the ride, dreading having to go back to Marie who waited impatiently for them at the concession stand.

-

"That waz ze most horrible fair Ay've ever been to," Marie grumbled, stepping out of Jazz's passenger side door as Katie did the same on the driver's side. "Get reed of zat horrible monstrosity of a car." Her nose wrinkled. "Een fact, get reed of those weerd friends of yours and dump that creeture you laughingly call a boyfriend."

Jazz grumbled and bristled but remained silent.

"My life is no longer any of your business." Katie snapped back, looking down at her mother from her superior height. Marie, of course, didn't give up, but she did back down…for now.

-

"Your mom… is a pain in the ass."

Katie didn't look up at the voice over the radio, instead falling back on Jazz's passenger seat, sighing with contentment when he lowered it for her to rest. "Don't I know it." she muttered back to Maggie. "Boy do I owe you big time, Jazz. That was a nice save back there."

The car grumbled, but said nothing. "I agree with Maggie, Kitty. Yer mother's a pain in the ass and I think you should jus' give up on makin' up with 'er."

Katie sighed. "I'll talk with you later about it." she said wearily. "Right now, just let me sleep."

Obediently, Jazz, Maggie, and Bluestreak fell silent – or did Jazz just turn off his radio? Either way it was silent in the car save for the growl of the engine and Katie had no problem falling asleep.


	18. Abduction

**Eh.. sorry it took so long. Homework an' all. :( **

**Anywho, thanks to flamingmarsh for giving me an idea to work with. :) ((hugs))**

* * *

Thinking, Katie sipped her steaming mug of tea. Coffee was too bitter and strong for her, and tea suited her just fine.

Maggie watched her from across the table, an almost worried expression on her face. "Are you okay, Katie?"

Katie snapped her head up at that, and gave a falsely cheerful smile. "I'm fine, Maggie. Never been better, but that's probably the caffeine talking, not me."

Maggie ignored that, looking at Katie with piercing eyes. "So how'd you get involved in all this?"

Katie shrugged. "In a nut-shell, I bought a new car and it turned out to be Jazz. What about you?" They traded stories for a few minutes, but even that couldn't stop Katie from looking anxiously out the window.

Bluestreak had dropped Maggie off while Jazz had done the same with Katie. The two had been sitting next to each other in the parking lot, leaving their charges (though Maggie could hardly be called Bluestreak's charge; it was more of a mutual guardianship) with some privacy to talk to each other. They had sent their holograms in and told their friends that they had been called away by Optimus to investigate an attack near their area.

But that was an hour ago, and neither Maggie nor Katie could leave the café without throwing them off.

"How far away did they say they were going?" Katie asked for the tenth time, and Maggie sighed. She had enough stress to deal with, and worrying about her guardian sure wasn't helping any.

"Just outside the city," Maggie told her, eyeing the mug of tea that was quickly disappearing. "They'll be back soon, and drinking that much caffeine isn't good for you."

Katie made a non-committal sound and drank, showing no sign that she even heard the blond woman. "You should stop worrying." Maggie told her, trying to sound stern, but it didn't help that she knew it was falling on deaf ears.

Katie looked worriedly at her watch. "I have a meeting to go to in a few minutes. When he gets back tell him that I left, okay? He should know where I am." Shouldering her bag, she bought another drink – a cup of iced coffee, Maggie noticed worriedly – and left, walking briskly down the street.

Maggie sighed, not happy to wait alone, but she could hardly fault Katie for leaving; a meeting was a meeting after all, and now the blond was immensely glad that she had the day off today. Standing, she walked out of the café and into the parking lot where she found a bench. Sitting down, she watched the cars go by, looking for a silver Pontiac Solstice and a dark blue and white Dodge Viper.

She was too lost in her thoughts to see the Saleen Mustang edging up behind her.

-

Tiredly, Jazz and Bluestreak crept into the parking lot, parking with a tired sigh. For once Bluestreak was silent, too tired to talk, and Jazz was happy.

"Jazz?" inwardly, Jazz winced, but turned his tires to "face" his comrade.

"Ya, Blue?"

"Katie and Maggie aren't in the café." Short, sweet, and to the point. No worried embellishments on how it'd be unlike them to just walk out like that, just a simple, blunt truth.

Jazz swept his sensors toward the café, and true to his word, didn't pick up the familiar presence of Katie and Maggie. Worriedly, he activated his hologram and walked into the café, aware that Bluestreak hastily sent his after him. "Excuse me, I'm looking for my friends; we were supposed to meet here a while ago and we got delayed. Have you seen them?" Jazz handed her a picture Katie had given him of all of them at the fair. Thankfully, Marie had decided to sit out of the picture, so it was only the four of them.

"Oh yes!" the girl at the cash register said, nodding and handing the picture back to Jazz who put it in his "pocket". "The brunette was drinking a lot of tea and left about a half hour ago with an iced coffee. The blond left a little while later toward the parking lot."

Jazz frowned and thanking her, left with Bluestreak. As he left the café, he noticed an odd sign on the door. Frowning, he pulled it off the glass and read it. with a growl, he stomped back to his body, put the paper in subspace, and not caring if Bluestreak followed, sped off toward the Autobot base.

-

Jazz burst into the meeting room, not caring that it was occupied; his sharp optics spotted Optimus quickly and stomped over. "They took her!" he roared.

"Who took who?" Ironhide asked, startled.

"The Decepticons took Katie and Maggie." Bluestreak said in a jaded tone. "They were gone from the café we took them to after we returned."

"Calm down, Jazz, Bluestreak." Optimus said, trying to soothe the two mechs. "We don't know that for sure."

Wordlessly, Jazz handed Optimus the note he found on the café door.

"The humans you call 'Maggie' and 'Katie' are in our hands. You will comply with our demands, or they will die. There is no use in resisting. We will be contacting your base shortly."

Any doubts lingering in their minds were gone; the note was entirely in Cybertronian script.

* * *

**Anyone want a specific transformer to appear? Autobot, Decepticon, whatever?**


	19. Army

**:) Okay. I got my muse back. Apparently a lot of people wanted certain Transformers in this story. I'll try to put in as many as possible, but I can't make any promises. :(**

**Note: I can't speak much Italian, so all the Italian in this chapter is from a handy dandy online universal dictionary that translated the words for me. :) If there's any incorrect words found by someone who speaks Italian, please let me know so I can fix them. Grazie. :) **

* * *

Katie woke slowly, a dim light shining in her eyes. Slowly, she sat up and winced; the cold metal she was sleeping on did a number on the muscles in her back. Not to mention she was cold and hungry…

"You're up." Katie turned and found Maggie sitting nearby, back against the walls. She looked a little worse for wear, but otherwise okay.

"Yeah. Where are we?" Katie asked, looking around. It looked like they were in a box…a rather large box with a sort of glass-like covering over the top. The glass was low enough that they couldn't stand upright, but instead had to crouch awkwardly or crawl to get around.

Maggie shrugged. "I don't know; likely the Decepticon base." At this, Katie paled, but said nothing. "Barricade got me."

Katie looked around warily. "I'm not sure who got me," she admitted. "One minute I was walking down the street and the next I'm pulled in a car and drugged."

Maggie sighed. "This is bad. If it is in fact the Decepticons keeping us here, then it could open up an entire new war. I know for sure that Jazz and Blue will be mad as heck."

"What do you recommend we do, then?" Katie asked and Maggie rubbed her forehead.

"Stall as long as we can. Get them to tell us what they want and why, and stall as long as we can. Hopefully the Autobots will either find us or what they're planning, and I'm hoping they do before they kill us." Maggie was rather nervous, but Katie, she noted, didn't seem so afraid.

Katie looked up through the glass thoughtfully. "Okay," she said quietly. "We'd better get to it, then. It looks like they're coming to get us."

Maggie looked up as well, seeing the behemoth Katie saw approaching. Or rather, behemoths, she saw, for the glass distorted whatever was beyond it. The glass lifted and two mechs looked down at them, looking nearly identical save for their coloring; one was a dark, navy blue and white, and the other was dark violet and black.

"Let it begin." Maggie heard Katie said quietly, as the Decepticons reached into their little pen. Frowning to herself, she mentally prepared herself for what would come next, whatever it was.

-

"This isn't good." Ratchet said quietly. "Not only can they use Katie as leverage against her father, she can be used as leverage against Jazz. Maggie can be used against the Secretary of Defense and Bluestreak, but they could pry her for knowledge of internal affairs." The medic looked down at the sedated mech. Bluestreak, who had been as worried as Jazz, didn't need to be sedated; instead, he sat in a corner, staring mournfully at nothing in particular.

"That is very dangerous indeed." Optimus agreed. "However, there is nothing we can do until they contact us."

"Optimus! Incoming transmission." Bumblebee said, running into the med-bay. "Unknown in origin," he added when they hesitated.

With a look at each other, Ratchet and Optimus all but ran to the command center where they locked the doors and turned on the communications console.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Optimus opened the message and waited for a picture to bloom to life on the screen... but it didn't; only a crackle of audio and the sound of a panicked human reached their audio receptors. Two sentences got through, but the tell-tale sound of enormous cannons and guns sounded and immediately the transmission was cut off.

Trading a glance at each other, Optimus and Ratchet got to work, trying to find out where it originated.

"What did it say?" Ironhide asked in an angry rumble when they came out.

"'They're after hostages. He's holding them off, but not for very long'. It was cut off after that." Ratchet recited, looking up at his leader.

"Ironhide, get the twins and meet me and Ratchet at the front of the base. We need to see who or what sent that message." Eagerly, the big black mech ran off. A spot of gray caught the green medic's attention, and he turned to find Snowy looking up at him with cold jade-green eyes, as if blaming him for his owner's capture. A moment passed and the cat stood and walked way, tail held unusually low.

-

_What an interesting convoy they make,_ the dazed and worried mechanic thought wildly, standing at the side of the road above a steep ravine. Boy, oh, boy did she hope these were reinforcements, because her partner didn't look so good.

She looked back at the convoy and fidgeted as they seemed to creep closer. In the lead was an enormous semi truck colored blue with red flames oddly enough and not carrying any cargo or trailer. Next was a Hummer in the strangest shade of green she had ever seen. Followed close behind it were two nearly identical Lamborghini Gallardos, one red and the other golden-yellow. Bringing up the rear of the convoy was an enormous black truck. Though not as large as the semi truck (upon closer inspection, it was a Peterbilt), it was rather large compared to her red and orange Ferrari.

They wouldn't stop for no human, she knew, and that and the fear for her friend in the ditch was what caused her to step out in the middle of the road and wait for them to come. It didn't take long; the road was very narrow, and unless the odd convoy of vehicles wanted to plunge into the ravine, they'd stop.

Sure enough, the enormous Peterbilt slammed on its brakes when it saw she wasn't about to budge, causing the others in the convoy to do the same. The front grille inches from her nose, Armonie let out a breath she wasn't aware of holding. She looked up slightly at the red symbol at the top of the grille and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It took you long enough." she grumbled. "They're gone, but he's severely injured. Please tell me you brought a _medico_." The Peterbilt remained silent. Swearing, Armonie kicked the front as hard as she could. "_Maledire_, if you don't act soon, Hot Rod will die. He is part of your _armata_, is he not? And you are his leader, correct?"

For another moment, the semi truck was silent, then the red Lamborghini scooted to the edge of the road. "Hey, Optimus! What's the holdup? I thought we had to move fast."

A sound drew Armonie's attention before either of them could reply, and she leapt without hesitation into the ravine, ignoring the convoy of vehicles.

Curious, Ratchet, who had heard everything, edged slowly over the lip of the ravine while keeping his back wheels in place. Seeing the scene at the base of the ravine, he immediately transformed and slid down after the human.

"Ratchet, what is it?" Optimus asked, transforming and looking for himself. "Primus above."

Armonie grumbled, gently rubbing her friend's large red-orange helm as the green medic got to work on him, murmuring to him in Italian. He replied in kind then tilted his head to look at Ratchet.

"Look bad, don' I, doc?" he asked, startling Ratchet.

"Shut up, Hot Rod and let me work on you." the medic grumbled back, recovering from his surprise quickly. "Who's your friend?"

Armonie snorted and sat herself next to the mech as he chuckled. "Armonie, this is Ratchet, Ratchet, this is my friend Armonie, or Army for short."

The Italian girl snorted again. "I only wish we could've met under better circumstances." She said, her accent dying off a bit now that she was calmer. "I did what I could, which wasn't much." She added, looking into Hot Rod's gaping chest. "The _aereo da caccia_ gave him a bad strafing run. Another of you _autonomo robot_ appeared but took off a little while ago. Hound, I think his name was. There was another, but it was almost like he wasn't there. Like an _illusione_ or a _miraggio_, you know?"

Hot Rod laughed, causing both Ratchet and Army to slap him at the same time. Army, ignoring her stinging hand, pouted, just knowing that the red and orange bot had been laughing at her. "We just came from Italy and it's her first time here." He explained. "She knows some English, but doesn't always speak all the way in one language."

"_I speak enough. It's not like you guys can't figure out what it means."_ Armonie grumbled back in Italian, causing the injured bot to raise an optic ridge and look at her.

"_I'd like to hear you say that when you have to interact with others here."_

"_I am interacting with others; I'm interacting with your medic Ratchet, aren't I?"_ Hot Rod snorted.

"_That's not what I meant, and you know it. I'll let you speak however you want now, but when you have to interact with others of your species in this country that likely doesn't speak Italian you had better speak as much English as you can."_ Armonie snorted and kicked his head again but didn't say anything else.

She climbed out of the ravine shakily and dusting herself off, walked over to the two Lamborghinis and enormous pickup still in the road. All four were silent for a while as the big Peterbilt (who had yet to introduce himself) climbed out of the ravine.

Armonie looked up at him as he walked over. "How about some introductions?"

* * *

**:) I like Army's name. Okay. The Italian in this chapter is rather simple save for a few:  
_Medico:_ medic  
_Maledire_: damn :)  
_Armata:_ army  
_Aereo da caccia:_ fighter aircraft  
_Autonomo robot:_ Autonomous robot  
_Illusione:_ illusion  
_Miraggio:_ mirage**

**:) All in all, I like this chapter; I had a lot of fun in making it. **


	20. Messages

**Bad mood today and so I skipped dinner resulting in this chapter being done early. I'll get working on the next chapter.**

**A bit more Decepticons and a few Autobots in this chapter, so whoo. ((cheers weakly))**

* * *

Only reluctantly did Armonie step into Optimus's cab after being reassured by Ratchet that Hot Rod would be fine, that they just needed to get him to their base. Sulkily, she sat in his cab, and despite not talking when prompted by the leader or others in the convoy, she found amusement when the Autobot leader turned on his radio, occasionally saying something to herself in rapid Italian. 

"_**Armonie, did you get what they wanted?"**_ At the sound of her comrade, the girl straightened. _**"I was a bit busy, you know."**_

She hesitated, but at Hot Rod's prompting began to talk. "Before they attacked, the blue _aereo da caccia_ was–"

"_**Army," **_

Armonie sighed and rolled her eyes at her friend's warning tone. "The blue fighter jet said that they needed hostages and the closer to an Autobot, the better even if they didn't know it. Then they spotted us and attacked."

"This has given us food for thought," the Peterbilt she was sitting in rumbled. "Is there anything else, Armonie?"

She shrugged. "They saw us and said something like 'she'll do' and dove." She paused. "They said something about 'megaton' or something like that."

"_**Megatron?"**_ there was a dangerous grumble in Ironhide's engine that caused Armonie to blink.

"Yeah. That was it. Megatron." She sounded it out slowly to get it right. "They said something about him. Uh, I think he wanted hostages for leverage or something like that."

"_**No offense, Fleshie, but how'd you know this?"**_ Sunstreaker interrupted, causing Armonie to glare at the radio.

"I listen," she grumbled. "My father was a fighter pilot and taught me a lot of the codes for aircraft captains for formations as well as their radio frequencies."

"_**She has a disturbing tendency to tune into any jet happening to fly overhead, especially if they're in formation."**_ Hot Rod grumbled while Armonie smiled sheepishly.

"We're here." Slowly, Armonie slid out of Optimus's cab and watched anxiously as Ratchet led the injured Hot Rod into the base.

She was greeted to an odd sight; the moment they stepped into the base, an unusually large gray tabby came running over, green eyes alight and tail erect. Upon seeing them, it stopped and its tail drooped. Slowly, it walked away as some dozen little birds flew over in a great flock, brightly colored bits of ribbon clinging to their little claws.

They flew around Armonie in a great shrieking mass before settling on the large Autobots around them, much to her amusement. Noticing that Hot Rod and Ratchet were further down the hall, she hurried after them.

-

Once the questioning began, it was easy for Katie to revert back to being mute again. Maggie, however, had a harder problem about keeping silent, but like Katie, she didn't give any information but merely swore at their captors.

As the blond suggested, Katie stalled for as long as she could which was rather simple, considering that she had gone into her mental panic-room, effectively rendering her mute. The only thing the brunette really worried about was that the Decepticons would do something horrible to them, or that they might die.

It wasn't that she was afraid of death; far from it, in fact. If she had to die for Jazz to live, she'd be more than willing do the deed herself rather than have him suffer or worse, die. Her time at the Autobot base made her willing to die for the others as well. She wasn't sure if Maggie shared her view, but she _did_ know that if she died, Jazz would be livid.

She had seen first hand how protective the silver mech was of her, and heard about what he did from Ratchet when she had left the base. Licking her lips and wincing as her tongue ran over a cut in her lip, Katie crouched in their little enclosure, peering hard into the dim light through the distorted glass above them. Watching. Waiting. There were many things she could tell the Autobots about the Decepticon base.

That is, if she ever got out of this hell.

-

Cool blue optics surveyed the skies, watching as two jets circled above a rocky peak. It was too far away for him to tell what their colors were, but he had a pretty good guess. Three other jets circled at a much higher altitude, providing a double patrol that prevented him from going any closer than he was at the moment.

"So? Whaddaya think?" his forest-green partner asked, hunkered beside him on the orangey rock. The spy shook his head at the scout's obvious paintjob, but ignored it in favor of the situation.

"I think we better get back." He replied quietly. "Optimus needs to know about this."

"What about th' human and Roddy? We jus' gonna leave 'em there?" the spy looked back at the scout and grimaced, not that he could see him.

"I'm sure they're fine. If it makes you feel better, we can drive by just to be sure they were picked up." The spy chuckled. "Handy of you to help her contact the Autobots."

The green scout smirked and shrugged. "I didn't need to help her much; I think she works with electronics a lot. Let's get going before they begin making bigger circles."

With an invisible nod, the spy transformed and raced away with the scout close behind him. Mustang and Jeep drove away as fast as they could go, hoping that the jets flying above didn't pick them up on radar.

-

"Optimus, you have a message waiting for you in the control room." Tracks said, walking quickly down the hall to his leader.

"From who?" Optimus asked, close to running down the hall. Tracks had to jog to keep up with him.

"The Decepticons, sir. They contacted us just before you returned and have been waiting since." The blue Corvette reported, running into the room just behind Optimus. With practiced ease, he shooed the finches out of the room and closed the door, allowing Optimus to have free rein of the control room without any distractions.

Optimus keyed in his code and waited for a visual to pop up. This time, it did, and he stared coldly into Barricade's freakish face.

"Not like you to dally, Prime." The police car Decepticon sneered. "With what is at stake, I'd think you'd be more vigilant."

"The universe doesn't revolve around one species or group." Optimus replied in kind. "I would have thought you knew that by now, Barricade."

The Decepticon smirked. "I'll be sure to tell that to your little pets while they pay for your tardiness." With a parting smirk, he walked off-screen and a slim jet took his place.

"**Hello, Optimus. Did you miss me?" **

"Of course not, Starscream, but like everything bad, you came back to bite me in the butt." Optimus replied in English, ignoring the Seeker's growl of anger. "What do you want?"

"**Why, the universe, of course." **The jet said with a malicious smirk.** "But of course with the Allspark destroyed by that flesh-bag, I'll have to make do with this world for now. There are many things I plan on changing on this planet when it's been conquered. Of course, when Megatron's repairs are complete, we'll be moving on, but Hook tells me that it should take a while so…why not do some conquering here, starting with you Autobots and the pathetic insects of this planet."**

Optimus forced himself to stay calm; showing that he had risen to Starscream's bait would be as bad as losing the battle. "Did you just call to gloat, or do you have a purpose behind it?"

"**I just came to warn you, Optimus."** The jet said with false sincerity. **"Your little squishies have only so long to live, and even then it's not much. You have only a little bit longer than them, for after Megatron is fully functional, we'll be coming for you. You can be sure of that." **

"Then there was no reason to kidnap the humans?" Optimus asked, forcing his voice to sound mild.

Starscream smirked. **"There's a reason behind everything we do, Prime. Some things you'll know right away, and some things you'll find out in due time. This is one of those times. Don't be surprised to find the corpse of one of your squishies on your front door."** With that, he signed off.

With a sigh, Optimus left the control room, nearly running into his anxious and worried men just outside the door.

"Well are you going to tell us or are you going to keep it to yourself?" Ratchet asked, breaking the silence.

"They didn't say." he said at last. "Megatron is alive, how, I don't know, but according to Starscream he's being repaired by Hook."

"We can assume the Constructicons are here, then. Where one goes the others ain't far behind." Ironhide grumbled, cannons spinning irritably. "I'll be in the shooting range." He groused, stalking off.

"Isn't there any good news?" Sideswipe whined. "What about Katie and Maggie? Are they okay?"

Optimus sighed. "I honestly don't know, Sideswipe. They threatened to do something to them because I was 'dallying' and also that we shouldn't be surprised to find a corpse at our front door." He replied wearily.

"We have some good news for ya." A cheerful voice said from behind the ground, and they all turned to find a blue and white mech and a forest-green mech standing near the door. "We know where the base is."

* * *

**Okay. I totally BSed Starscream's message. -.-; I got to it and then realized that I didn't know what they wanted (Ha! Imagine that, the authoress not even knowing D: ) so I stalled and... well, an extremely talkative Starscream came out. **

**Who can guess who the scout and spy are :)**

**Now that this chapter is completed, I feel a little better; my day was utterly horrible and I'm glad it's the weekend 'cause now I can recuperate a bit. Perhaps draw a few pictures and write a few more chapters. :) I'd like that. :)**

**Hmm... I seem to have forgotten what kind of accent Hound has, so I put in how I talk sometimes. Eh, tasukete kudasai? Help, please. XD;;**


	21. SelfPity

**Okay. Finished another today, and now it's time for me to go to bed. :)**

* * *

The first thing he saw when he came online was the bright lights of the med-bay. They were dimmed slightly, but he couldn't really figure out why. Slowly, he sat up and looked around blearily. That was odd. Snowy wasn't here, and neither was Katie. 

Thinking about his charge, he stiffened as the memories came flooding back to him. Maggie, coffee shop, Bluestreak, Barricade, note…. They rushed back at him as he shook out the cobwebs in his head and the world began to spin dizzily. Ratchet. He drugged him!

"Jazz," he looked around at the dull voice and found Bluestreak sitting on a berth nearby, knees drawn up to his chest. "Do you think Katie and Maggie will be okay?" He asked in that same dull tone.

Seeing his comrade in such a depressed state, Jazz pushed his anger away for the moment and went to sit beside him, forcing tense cables to work properly. "They'll be fine, Blue. Maggie and Katie are tougher than many; Maggie survived Frenzy and Katie survived her mother. Together they can survive the Decepticons too."

Bluestreak sighed and buried his head in his hands resting on his knees and Jazz wrapped a comforting arm around his shoulders. "I can't help but be worried, Jazz," he said quietly.

"I know, Blue. I feel the same way." His spark ached knowing that if he hadn't left them, they wouldn't be in this mess. He smirked slightly. If he thought about it too much, he half-expected Katie to notice and throw something or kick him and tell him to find something more productive to do.

"Hot Rod's here." Bluestreak said suddenly, surprising Jazz. "Ratchet's working on him in the OR. Thundercracker and Skywarp attacked him out of the blue. They're looking for hostages, Jazz; they tried getting the human Hot Rod protects."

"Do you know what happened?" Jazz asked, and the gunner sort of shrugged.

"Not much. She contacted Optimus and he went out. Hound and Mirage got to them in time but left for one reason or another." He said simply. "The girl's wandering around somewhere."

"Would 'the girl' you're referring to be me?" an unfamiliar, lilting voice asked from the door and both mechs turned and found the little Italian girl leaning against the side of a berth.

"Perhaps." Was Jazz's contribution. "I suppose it would depend on who you are and why you're here."

Armonie nodded at the big gray tabby sitting a few feet away from her. "The cat brought me here, and my name is Armonie, not 'the girl'."

"**That's definitely something Katie would've said,"** Jazz murmured to Bluestreak who nodded and uncurled himself, letting his legs hang over the edge.

"**Same with Maggie, though I think she'd phrase it differently."** He peered at Armonie who had crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully at them. "My name is Bluestreak and this is Jazz." He said simply.

Armonie paused for a moment as if expecting him to continue, and black eyebrows rose. "I was told you usually talk a lot."

"Under usual circumstances, we're usually more cheerful." Jazz told her flatly. "It doesn't help that through our negligence–"

"If you two are going to have a self-pity fest, go do it somewhere else." Ratchet interrupted gruffly, helping a newly-repaired Hot Rod to an empty berth nearby. "And Jazz, if you act up again, I'll have to sedate you again." Reminded of the drug that still trickled through his systems, Jazz's optics flashed angrily at the medic who ignored him and walked out.

"Hey, Jazz! Hey, Blue! It's nice to see ya again. How've you been?" Hot Rod said, sitting up on his berth and swinging his legs over the edge, leaving to dangle like Jazz and Bluestreak's did. Two silent, flat stares answered his cheerful query. When it was evident that they weren't inclined to answer him, he went on almost nervously. "Ratchet's told me that I was lucky, that Armonie wasn't kidnapped. I heard two other Autobots had their charges taken away from them. Terrible, isn't it? I wonder what they're doing with them."

"That's something we don't want to think about." Bluestreak said without his usual cheer or rambling, something that surprised Hot Rod.

"Do you two know whose charges were taken? I want to talk to them and ask them how they lost them. I can't imagine doing something that made me lose Armonie," he looked fondly down at the human who rolled her eyes at him but patted his leg fondly. "Tell me what you know."

Bluestreak and Jazz exchanged a glance and shrugged. "The girls who were taken were named Katie and Maggie. Maggie worked with the Secretary of Defense and Katie was a freelance journalist and amateur artist and photographer. Both had gone with their guardians to a coffee shop to talk about something or another when their guardians got called away by Optimus. A suspicious signal was detected and both mechs were sent to investigate, leaving their charges in the coffee shop. Maggie left after Katie did and was taken at a bus stop by Barricade. Katie had left a few minutes before Maggie to attend a meeting a few blocks down. She was taken after Maggie by Frenzy." Jazz said bluntly.

"We have yet to figure out why they were taken," Bluestreak added quietly as Hot Rod carefully lifted Armonie up on the berth next to him.

"You were not negligent," Armonie stated firmly, startling the three bots. "Your leader called you off and you followed as it was your duty. I would not blame Hot Rod if he did that and I was taken while he was gone."

"Wait. How can you tell they weren't just making it up?" Hot Rod asked, and he didn't seem to notice that both Bluestreak and Jazz stiffened at that. "Who reported the signal, and why was it two _guardians_ that were sent out?"

Armonie frowned up at her guardian at that and watched silently as Jazz and Bluestreak bridled. She'd been after him to use more tact when he spoke, and it hadn't worked; perhaps having it spelled out for him how tactless he was by two distraught mechs of his own kind might work better than shoes to the head.

Jazz's engine growled. "We weren't making it up. We picked up the signal and reported it to Prime. He told us to muster out and we did, but not before telling Katie and Maggie. We were sent out only because we were the closest to the signal."

Hot Rod "blinked" in surprise at that as Armonie shook her head. Wearily, Jazz got to his feet and Bluestreak followed suit. "I'm sure she doesn't blame you," Armonie said quietly, drawing the silver mech's attention. "Either of you." she added with a nod to Bluestreak. "If you so wish to blame someone, blame them that took your charges and give them back what they did to you." She smirked slightly. "I know if I saw Roddy here blaming himself I'd throw a shoe at him."

All three mechs were quiet and at last, Jazz walked over, lifting a hand. Armonie noticed as the hand descended upon her head that it was clawed and stiffened slightly. Gentle fingerpads touched her hair and stroked gently. "You sound so much like Katie. If Ratchet asks where we are, tell him we said to slag off."

* * *

**Jus' why is it called "Self-Pity"? Well, 'cause the authoress was in self-pity-mode today, so it carried over to the story. But after listening to all the songs with a fast tempo I had as high as I could tolerate them in my ears, I feel much better. :)**

**Okay, I think they're all a little off character, but I just wanted to add this in. Er... Hmm. Right when I finished this chapter, it occurred to me to ask y'all. What would you do if I killed off Katie, Armonie, or Maggie? Would y'all, you know, bus' out the pitchforks an' torches an' come in a big ol' mob to my little house in th' middle o' blue ol' nowhere?**

**If you are, please don't go through all that trouble. I was just curious and I'm probably not gonna kill 'em off. But you know what they say: curiosity kills the cat. ;)**

**Anywho, next chapter : Ultimatum**


	22. Ultimatum

**Boy did this take a while. :)**

* * *

Katie eyed the long, sharp shard of metal in her hand, running her fingertips along the razor-sharp edges and tip. She looked up at Maggie who was muttering on the other side of their little enclosure, no doubt trying to find a way to escape.

She had persuaded Thundercracker, the dark blue jet to give her a few sticks of chalk which she used to draw and write in their enclosure. It helped to combat the boredom that constantly ate at her, and made it easier to talk with Maggie.

_I'm _so_ going to need therapy after this,_ Katie thought wryly to herself, looking back down at the blade-like shard. Skywarp the dark violet and black jet evidently found it amusing to give them an "escape route" as he called it. Now that Katie thought of it, in a way it was; one quick slice and it would all be over.

"What do they want from us?" Maggie demanded irritably, talking more to herself than Katie. Katie frowned slightly then went back to looking at the shard, tilting it this way and that to see the dull glimmer that shone along the strange metal. Maggie looked over at the other in the sort-of enclosure. "What do you think, Katie?"

Blue-hazel eyes looked up and studied her for a little while before looking back down at the shard. Carefully placing the shard on the side, Katie grabbed her small supply of chalk and crouching, began to write on the wall. _'I don't know what they want exactly, but they're trying to bait the Autobots with us. Let them know they have us, but not what they're going to do to us. My guess is that they'll contact them soon and wave us around a bit, make a few threats, then tell them what they want. Likely give them an ultimatum while they're at it.'_

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

Katie frowned at her. She put her finger to her lips and cupped a hand around her ear. 'I shut up and listen.' She was telling Maggie rather bluntly.

Without warning, the glassy top of their pen was lifted and the by-now familiar hands of Thundercracker and Skywarp plucked them out. "Squishies are so funny," Skywarp was saying, jiggling Maggie in his hand while Thundercracker and Katie looked at him rather irritably but for different reasons.

"Hurry up, Skywarp," the navy-blue mech grumbled. "Screamer's about to contact the Autobots and we'd better hurry before he starts screaming for us."

Katie smirked slightly at that and giggled, silencing herself when Thundercracker shook the hand he was holding her with. Her heart lurched when the two jets paused before a large door before keying it open. Seeing the Decepticon second-in-command before the console, Katie gulped and put on a brave face for the Autobots, knowing Maggie did the same.

-

Like ghosts the currently charge-less mechs wandered the base, walking almost aimlessly. Jazz stopped once to feed Snowy and the finches, but continued on once the animals were taken care of. Ratchet looked on worriedly, not liking the eerie silence of the two usually-cheerful mechs.

There would be hell to pay when Jazz and Bluestreak got their hands on Barricade and Frenzy, Ratchet knew. It was likely that the two would become berserkers and not stop until the two Decepticons were deactivated or they got Katie and Maggie back. Whichever came first.

Fortunately, Aldrin hadn't been to the base in the two days since Katie had been taken; he had stayed home to help Marie settle in and find a job and a new place for her to stay. He hadn't called either, so they didn't have to deal with his wrath or lie to him about his daughter.

Watching the two mechs walk hauntingly down the hall, Ratchet followed cautiously, trying to make sure that they didn't hurt themselves. It was only by chance that they were all in the control room when the comm. console beeped.

Optimus was there too and answered it while Jazz and Bluestreak looked on. Ratchet and Ironhide stood nearby, and Sam and Bumblebee were in a corner doing something.

"**Hello, Prime."** Jazz and Bluestreak stiffened at the sound of Starscream's voice, but said nothing. Ironhide and Ratchet edged slightly closer to them, watching them instead of Starscream to make sure they didn't do anything rash. **"Have a nice day?"**

"How nice of you to care, Starscream." The Autobot leader said dryly. "Since when do you care?"

Starscream smirked. **"Since I have your little squishie pets with me as my guests."** Jazz bridled at that, and Ironhide put a large, warning hand on his shoulder. With an icy glare at the weapons specialist, Jazz shrugged the hand off.

"Where are they?" Optimus asked, his voice stony and cold.

"**Right here,"** the jet stepped aside and everyone in the control room got a look at the two humans held in the other two Seekers' hands. **"Do they have anything to say to their friends?"**

Sulkily, Maggie flipped Starscream off while Katie looked toward the console, squinting her eyes as if looking for someone. Seeing them, she grimaced and pointed to her throat. She forced herself to speak, but didn't have to force or pretend the croak that came with it. "Hard to talk. Throat hurts." She said simply and began pantomiming.

Jazz frowned, walking forward. Katie knew sign-language; she had to learn it to "talk" when her mother forced her to be mute. Now she fumbled clumsily through "Don't come for us." Jazz opened his mouth to speak and Katie put a hand to her cheek as if in pain. She pulled it away, fluttering her middle finger as she did so. The Decepticons didn't seem to notice the subtle sign and Jazz stiffened slightly, realizing her game.

_California._

"Are you okay?" Jazz asked, playing the worried guardian.

Katie nodded and "fumbled" through "I'm okay." But instead of signing "okay," she made two thumbs-up signs, her right in front of her left. As Jazz watched, she moved her left around her right until it was in front of her other hand. She bounced them once and gave a forced smile.

_Around._

Jazz didn't know what to say, if what he wanted to would conflict with her plan, but he was saved by Optimus. "You two are very brave…" he scarcely finished the last word before Katie shook her head, stopping him.

'_Don't call me…'_ then she did a sign that should've have fit in that sentence. She curved her forefingers and brought them up and forward slightly slowly as if hesitating, then flicked them down, making not-quite-but-sort-of quotation marks. _'Brave.'_ She finished.

_Big._

'How is my…' she "hesitated" again and "improvised". She put both hands on her head, bent so that they looked sort of like cat ears, then put two fists together in front of her chest, then lifted upward and forward, opening as she did so. It looked like a cat's pounce, but it was something totally different in sign language.

_Mountain._

Katie frowned and "fumbled" through a little more. She made a C-shape with her left hand and with her right hand, used her pointer finger to make a circle from the tips of her fingers around to end in the same place. She closed the C-shape like a mouth, and Jazz had to smile at her imagination. It was a good sign for "what goes around comes around to bite you in the ass," but it in reality was something more important.

_Round._

With her right hand she made like she was scooping something from her right to right in front of her, and she did the same with her left hand. What could pass as "rebury" was something totally different. _'…Bertha for me.'_

_Valley._

Katie blinked and peered at Jazz. Then she began to sign the lyrics to a song she had told Jazz that she all but hated.

'_You always seem to find the sun_

_But this time, the sun is a fire_

_Bring down the rain.'_

Evidently Starscream had enough for he stepped back. **"You know they're safe…for now."** He smirked. **"So now we can discuss our terms. I want you to hand over the shard of the All Spark, Prime, and leave the planet forever. If you don't, well, we'll get more hostages until you change your mind. And don't think we won't hesitate to terminate them. You have a week to consider. When we fly over the plateau at the edge of the human town you are closest to and don't find the shard there alone, then we will fly over the human cities, and they will all be destroyed. One week, Prime." **With another smirk, Starscream cut the message off.

Prime sighed and pulled up a map. "Our best bet is to go there and get them back before the ultimatum." Jazz watched as he typed out the coordinates of the base Hound and Mirage had located near the small town of Parkfield.

"That's wrong, Prime. They're not there; it's a decoy." Jazz said abruptly. "Katie used hidden signals in her sign language and told us exactly where they were."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "I was wondering why her signing was so choppy. Continue, please, Jazz."

"Katie said 'California. Around big mountain. Round Valley'." Jazz told them. "They're in a place called Round Valley; it isn't very far from here."

Ironhide frowned. "What about the last thing she said. The song?"

Jazz sighed. "She was using a phase she learned from Epps. 'Bring down the rain' and signed a song by the same title."

"So she wants us to bomb the base with them in it." Bumblebee stated and with a sigh, Jazz nodded.

"Yes."

"First, let us worry about getting there, then about getting the humans out within a week before the ultimatum is up." Optimus suggested wearily. "One step at a time."

"As the humans say 'slow and steady wins the race'." Ratchet murmured.

Jazz snorted. "One can never win a race against time like this,"

"I agree with Jazz. It would be good to be thorough, but we don't have a lot of time, and within the week they have given us the Decepticons could change bases." Bluestreak said dully. Both mechs exchanged glances.

"I'll be in my quarters if you need me. Wallowing in self-pity." Jazz said, leaving. Bluestreak followed, leaving the others to plan.

Five pairs of blue optics and a pair of dark brown eyes watched as both mechs went down the hall, but not in the direction of their quarters but instead toward the door. Looking at each other, they followed, knowing that they would get in trouble when they got back.

Two of them knew Katie and Maggie, and the other four didn't, but that didn't mean they didn't want them back, if only to make the two cheerful bots go back to normal.

* * *

**Why did this take me forever? Well, because I had to look up all the sign language, of course. :) I found another handy dandy online dictionary which I used. It was very interesting :)**


	23. Trip

**Sorry it's a bit late. I meant to work on this around noon and have it posted a few hours earlier than now, but when I came home I had lunch then when I was about to go on the computer, my step-brother appeared and I guess did his homework or something. Either way, I didn't get a chance to go on until an hour or so ago. So, yah. Sorry. -.-**

* * *

Not all of the Decepticons were imbeciles, Katie knew, watching them through slitted eyes. She peered at the large shapes moving just beyond the distorted glass "ceiling" of their enclosure. By now she could recognize some of their shapes and vaguely their colors, but not all of them. Skywarp and Thundercracker usually guarded their enclosure, with Starscream coming by just to gloat.

There were others she hadn't gotten the names of; a silvery one passed that looked much like Frenzy, another larger, boxier blue one, and a few odd gray ones with different colored heads, but apart from that, she didn't know their names.

She had given Jazz what information she could, but soon she knew the Decepticons would change bases and they'd be lost. She needed to do something to lead them on in the right direction. Fingering her shard of metal which she had surprisingly grown fond of, she came to a decision.

Without warning Maggie, she walked over and grabbing a pinch of her blonde hair, she yanked, causing her to yelp and whirl to glare at the brunette who ignored her and walked over to the corner she had staked off as her own. There, she pulled a few hairs from her own head and using another strand of hair, tied them together in a bunch.

Eyeing the sharp edges of the blade-like shard, she gingerly held the dull end with her right hand and gripped the sharp tip with her left. Blood spread from the edges, turning the shard and her hand red.

"Katie, what are you doing!?" Katie ignored Maggie as she came running over, worried that her friend was trying to kill herself.

"Leading…the way." She croaked out, pulling her hand away and holding the shard so the blood lay pooled on it.

"And just how do you plan on doing that by cutting yourself like that?" Maggie demanded, grabbing for Katie's hand. Katie pulled her hand away and used the edge of her skirt to stop the bleeding. Putting the shard down and giving Maggie a warning glare when she made a move to pick it up, Katie proceeded to rip the edge of her skirt and make a sort of impromptu bandage. "Explain, please. How are you going to get it out to where they can find it?"

Katie smiled slightly. "They know…we need sun. When we leave, they will let us walk then put us somewhere to be transported. I say I need to pee, go behind a rock, and bury this in the direction it appears we're heading."

Maggie frowned. "It sounds unlikely that it'll work, but I suppose it's worth a try. Are you sure they want us alive?"

This time it was Katie who frowned. "I am sure; did you…not hear Starscream?" There. The bandage was tied and with a slight wince, Katie flexed her hand to make sure she was still able to grab things. "When blood dries, I'll hide it in skirt."

"What was with the hair, then?" Maggie asked, rubbing her head.

Katie smiled slightly. "They can scan hairs and see we're not hurt. Trust me, Maggie."

Maggie sighed and rubbed a hand through her hair, wincing at all the grit and tangles she encountered as she did so. "Okay, then. Just don't kill yourself or Jazz'll murder me." Katie snorted in amusement, feeling her eyes on her as she clumsily tied the bundle of hairs to the bloody shard where they wouldn't fall off or be cut. Slowly the blood was drying and Katie hid it in a corner where it wouldn't be readily visible.

And none too soon, for the distorted glass lifted and they were picked up by Skywarp and Thundercracker to be taken on a walk. Katie and Maggie always gritted their teeth at being leashed and walked like a dog, but to stay uninjured and alive for their guardians, they needed to comply.

That didn't mean they couldn't make their "walkers" lives a merry hell.

-

Jazz and Bluestreak had gotten a few hours of recharge in shifts in a cave large enough to fit one of them in car mode while the other was lookout, hunkering down behind a conveniently placed boulder, blaster out and ready. They set a steady pace, one that wasn't too fast so they overheat, and not too slow that they wasted precious time.

On the way, they strained their sensors to pick up any Decepticons. So far, they didn't encounter any and they didn't know if they should be thankful or angry.

When they reached the city of Santa Nella, they stopped to rest again, looking up the maps of the state. So busy and worrying about their charges, they didn't notice the a red Lamborghini, yellow-gold Lamborghini, red and orange Ferrari, forest-green Jeep, and a blue and white Mustang pull up around them until the Ferrari's engine growled.

"Do you know how long we've been dogging you?" he grumbled, startling Jazz who just barely stopped himself from blasting Hot Rod right then and there.

"What are you doing here?" Bluestreak asked, as surprised as Jazz though showing it in a different way. "We'll be getting in a lot of trouble when we get back for disobeying orders. If you come with us, then you'll get in a lot of trouble too."

Gently, Sideswipe nudged the gunner's bumper with his. "We know, Blue, but we came anyway. What kind of rescue were you trying to pull, going by your lonesomes?"

"We didn't want to ask you," Jazz said wearily, sinking low on his tires. "Optimus would go about it long and knowing the Decepticons, they'll move bases before we even head out. Katie and Maggie will try to give us a heads-up where they're going if I know them, but they can only do so much."

Hound nudged the silver Solstice reassuringly. "Tha's why we're here." He said cheerily despite the circumstances. "We also brought a few friends."

Hot Rod's door opened and Armonie stepped out, pulling pet carrier after her. Snowy hopped out of the car after her, earning her odd looks from the Solstice and Viper. With a smile, opened the door and four zebra finches flew out, their tiny claws blank of any ribbons. Four more flew out, each with ribbons on their claws: navy blue, red, gold, and silver. They chittered and flew around a bit before settling on Snowy who _mrrow_ed and sat down in front of Jazz.

Sunstreaker snorted. "What an odd rescue team we make. One human, a cat, two melee warriors, a scout, a saboteur, a spy, a gunner, a warrior, and eight birds. What'll our grandkids say when they hear of this?"

Sideswipe snorted. "Sunny, we don't _have_ grandkids."

The yellow twin grumbled. "Well, what will anyone say when we tell them we tried to rescue two humans in a base full of an unknown number of Decepticons with our crew?"

"Look at it this way, you two," Armonie suggested. "It's better odds with us than without us."

Bluestreak and Jazz were silent, and Bluestreak was the first to break it. "She does have a point, Jazz. I know I would rather have them – all of them – at my backs than just you, no offense."

The Solstice gave an un-carlike sigh. "That's certainly true. Rest up, guys. We have a big drive tomorrow."

"Aye, aye, mon capitane." Sideswipe chirped, making a big show of powering down as Sunstreaker did the same.

Armonie ushered the finches back into the carrier and put it back in Hot Rod, climbing in herself and falling asleep in his seats. Snowy jumped up on Jazz's hood and curled up near the glass, a paw hanging down in the opening to rest beneath him on the hood.

Jazz did feel better in the presence of more friends, and with the warmth of Snowy on his hood, feeling the purring of the large tabby, he too fell into recharge.

It was nice to have friends.

* * *

**Ok. I was reading _Lady Knight_ by Tamora Pierce, and that's how I got the idea of how their conversation. If you haven't read the book, I suggest you do, but I also suggest that you start from the beginning of the series. ;P **

**Er... Yeah. Sign language is fun, and those who said they wanted to learn, I reccomend it. Here's an online sign-language dictionary if you wanna take a look at the signs she used. I meant to put this up last chapter, but I sorta forgot. -o-;; http// www .aslpro .com/ cgi-bin /aslpro /aslpro .cgi**


	24. Sign

The next day they drove off in a neat caravan, one in front of the other, hardly speaking to each other. The only time they stopped was for Armonie and Snowy to do their business, eat, and drink as well as feed the finches and change the newspaper in their little kennel.

The valley appeared quickly, and the caravan slowed down slightly, straining their scanners once more to find any hint of Decepticon presences. They found none.

Almost dejectedly, Jazz and Bluestreak drove silently until the silver Solstice slammed on his breaks, causing Bluestreak to overshoot him, and Hot Rod, who was directly in back of him, to slam on his breaks.

"What was that for?" Hot Rod demanded while Armonie swore violently in Italian, rubbing her chest where the seat belt had hit her, jerking her back in her seat. "They aren't here."

Jazz revved his engine then transformed, walking around. "There was a book that Katie liked to read about a lady knight who instead of being taken to war, was put in charge of a refugee camp. She had gotten attached when the camp was attacked while she was away, doing reports. Against her orders, she went after her refugees once she realized that they were taken instead of slaughtered."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Mirage prodded gently.

Jazz smiled slightly. "There was a little boy in those that had been taken from the camp that had a doll with red yarn for hair. Whenever he could, he pulled yarn out of the doll's head and flung it on the ground while they traveled to let the lady knight know she was on the right trail."

"You think they left something behind to lead us?" Hot Rod asked as Armonie climbed out with the finches in hand.

Jazz's smile widened slightly. "I know they did. Let the finches go, Army, if you please." The Italian girl put the kennel down and opened the grate, watching as all eight finches swirled out, cheeping and shrieking.

Jazz followed them off the road, cannons ready for any surprises and optics peering around closely for anything Katie could have left behind. A dull flash of metal caught his optics, and he altered his course to walk over.

The metal was a thin shard, about as long as Katie's arm from her elbow to wrist, looking more like a knife blade than a jagged shard of shrapnel. The sharp end was a dull, discolored red and as Jazz peered closer at it, he realized that it was dried blood. Around the dull end was a long, thin piece of silvery cloth, ripped so it was thin like a ribbon.

A finch cheeped and he looked down to find it perched on his hand, a coil of thin threads in its beak. Bluestreak, who had come up beside him, gently picked the threads from the finch's beak and studied them.

"This is their hair." He told Jazz. "Is that blood?"

Jazz nodded. "Katie cut herself so we'd know we were on the right track. Just in case we didn't notice it, she ripped a piece from her skirt and tied it so it'd flap in the wind."

"I don't mean to be a party pooper, but how do you know they're still alive?" Sideswipe asked as the rest of the misfit crew came to circle around the objects in Jazz and Bluestreak's hands.

It was Mirage who answered. "See how sharp the lines of the edges of the blood stains are and how even the color is? If they were stabbed or slashed, the color would be uneven, and there would be smear marks."

"Besides," Hound added. "Who'd kill a human with a piece of shrapnel like that? If I was them, I'd jus' shoot 'em."

"Hey guys." Hearing Armonie's voice, they found the dark-haired girl crouching in front of the rock where Jazz had found the shard. "There's writing."

"Well, what's it say?" Sunstreaker groused, only to receive an elbow to the side from his brother.

"'_They_ _are lazy. Left behind a lot. Count: 6 jets, 5 cars, 5_' it cuts off there on the first line. There's a second line beneath it. '_Suds in the bucket'_." Armonie frowned.

"How is it written?" Hound asked, bending to look at the rock. "It looks like it was cut into it. That shard has no sign of being used for such a purpose, so how could they have cut into it?"

Jazz bent near the rock and looked the carving over. "That looks like Katie's handwriting, though I guess it would be different 'cause it's a carving. Look at that S – Katie likes to make her capital S's slightly slanted and rather curvy." Hound and Armonie looked at the S in the second line and found that it fit Jazz's description.

"What'd she mean by 'Suds in the Bucket'?" Sideswipe asked, and Jazz smiled.

"It's a country song she likes to listen to every once in a while. The excerpt she wants, I believe, is '_She's got her pretty little bare feet hangin' out the window/and they're headed up to Vegas tonight'_."

"They're heading to Vegas?" Sideswipe asked eagerly.

Jazz nodded, looking at Bluestreak. "Have you ever been there?" he asked and the gunner shrugged.

"Once or twice with Maggie," he admitted. "I had to drive her to the Hoover Dam, and then she took me to Vegas to see the sights."

Jazz looked down at the shard of metal in his hands and ran a quick scan. "The shard's warm, but not hot; they didn't leave that long ago, judging by the amount of sun and heat here. If we hurry, we might be able to catch up with some of the slower ones, but the jets would likely be further away."

"Should we go for the jets, or the cars, is what you're asking." Sunstreaker said, cracking his knuckles eagerly.

"The only problem is that we don't know how far away they are, how many there are, or which ones have Katie and Maggie," Mirage pointed out as Hot Rod lifted Armonie and placed her on his shoulder.

"Then we have to plot our course and decide how fast we'll be going." Jazz murmured, thinking. "The distance is approximately 597.50 miles, and according to the internet, we should get there in around 11 hours if we abide by the speed limit."

"We should split up." Bluestreak suggested, looking at the same website as Jazz. "One half can take the fastest, and the other can take the shortest routes."

Jazz looked at the others who looked expectantly back at him – apparently he was now in charge. "Okay. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bluestreak take the fastest and maintain radio contact. Hound, Mirage, and I will take the shortest route. Hot Rod, you and Armonie decide where to go. The birds will be divided and I think Snowy will want to come with me."

To Jazz's surprise, they snapped smart salutes and transformed, driving back to the road, leaving Armonie, Snowy, Hot Rod and the finches where they stood.

Armonie and Hot Rod talked with each other in Italian, and politely, Jazz refrained from translating what they were saying. At last, they turned back to him. "We'll take the shortest route." Armonie said.

Hot Rod nodded. "The Decepticons are likely to take the shortest route to their destination, and no offense to Hound and Mirage, you need some extra backup."

Armonie was gently put down, and she looked up at Jazz with sharp, dark eyes. "Don't mope." She told him firmly. "You'll feel better on the road, I'm sure, so put on a strong face. We'll find Katie." With that, she stepped into Hot Rod.

Snowy looked up at Jazz with slitted green eyes, more thoughtful than blaming. Then he _mrroow_ed as if to order him to transform. With a dry chuckle, Jazz did and let the cat into his front seat. "Let's go, Mister Snowy. We have a damsel in distress to save."

Snowy gave a sort-of snort, though if it was from Jazz calling him "mister," or at him calling Katie a damsel in distress, the Solstice couldn't be sure, but he laughed anyway and drove. Flicking his taillights at Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bluestreak, did feel much better now that he was on the road, knowing he was at least one step closer to finding Katie.


	25. Map

Optimus sighed, rubbing his brow with a large hand, a habit he had picked up from the humans. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were (thankfully) not pulling pranks or causing trouble, and he had yet to find Hound and Mirage to talk to them about Earth and when they arrived.

Suddenly, Bumblebee and Ratchet came running from down the hall, skidding to a halt in front of Optimus who frowned slightly at them. "What's the matter?"

"They're gone!" Bumblebee blurted out, causing Optimus to blink in surprise.

"Who's gone? Start from the beginning, Bumblebee."

"I went to check up on Jazz and Blue, but they weren't in their quarters. Then I went to Ratchet, and he said he hadn't seen them since they left the command center. I looked all over the place for them, and haven't seen them." Bumblebee said in a rush. "I was going to pick up Sam and Mikaela from school and I was about to go out the gates when Lennox and Epps stopped to talk to me. They wanted to know why there was such a big caravan of Autobots going out 'cause they weren't notified of one."

"Bee came to me, Optimus, and I went to talk with Lennox and Epps. They saw first Jazz and Bluestreak, then Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Hot Rod, Armonie, Hound, and Mirage leave, all in a big caravan." Ratchet told his leader who could hear the hardly-disguised anger hidden in his calm voice.

"Where did they go?" Optimus asked, rubbing his brow again.

"We don't know," Ratchet replied. "We tried hailing them on all our frequencies, but they're not responding."

Optimus sighed again. This was going to be a long day. "They're likely going to head toward Round Valley, where Katie said the base was. What they'll do there, I don't know, but we have no idea where the Decepticons are or if or when they will strike."

"We still have six days left of our ultimatum." Ratchet added quietly. "Either we send backup for them and hope to Primus that they succeed, or we stay holed up here and give them the shard."

For the third time in the space of ten minutes, Optimus rubbed his brow. Sometimes he hated being the leader.

-

Jazz pulled into a gas station, opening his doors and letting Snowy out to do his business. He shut his door as Hot Rod and the rest of his team parked around him. Jazz watched sadly as Armonie got out asking for a bathroom and getting something to eat and drink. He missed having to stop for Katie every now and then, and now regretted refusing to take her to Montana to see the sights.

He was torn from his musings as what appeared to be one of the workers approached him. He activated his hologram and climbed out, moving to lean against his hood. Cold amber eyes watched the human approach then slow down as if unsure.

"Sorry, sir, but I have ta ask. Are ya by any chance some'un by th' name o' Jazz?"

Jazz blinked. "Yes, that's me." golden eyes narrowed. "Why?"

The human just shook his head. "My God she was right." He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a grimy piece of paper folded in an envelope. "There was these two girls came here few hours ago. One was mute an' the other talked too much. The mute one asked me – wrote it down, actually – that when I sees a silver Solstice come drivin' up or by, I gots ta stop it and ask if it's called Jazz. If it was, I was to ask if he wants ta find his girl." He looked expectantly at Jazz.

Jazz's eyes narrowed. "What did they look like and what direction did they go toward?"

The man scratched his head, thinking. "The mute girl was real pretty. 'Bout my height with these pretty blue eyes and brown hair. The real talkative one was blond with blue eyes, a little taller than the mute one. They didn't give me their names, though. They were covered in dirt an' stuff, like they was hiking or something." He extended the hand holding the envelope. "If you was Jazz, then I had ta give ya this and not ta open it."

Katie and Maggie. Jazz took the envelope and "pocketed" it for later. "Thanks. How did they leave?"

The man shrugged. "I dunno. Looked like a gray semi truck, but I dunno. Listen. I gotta get back ta work, so, bye." With that, he left.

Hound's hologram appeared beside him, followed closely by Mirage and Hot Rod's. "Well, are ya gonna open it or not?" Hot Rod demanded as Armonie walked out of the store.

With nervous hands, Jazz opened the envelope, and started when a grimy length of silver ribbon fluttered out. Catching it before it hit the ground, Jazz held it up in his holographic hands and looked closely at it. It took a moment to realize that it was another ribbon-thin sliver cut from Katie's skirt.

"By the time we find her, that thing'll be little more than a miniskirt." Armonie said, looking the ribbon. "She cut it instead of ripping it; look how uneven the edges and width are."

"That's certainly true, on both counts." Mirage said with a nod. "What does the note say, Jazz?"

Quickly, eagerly, Jazz opened the paper until it was flat, leaning the large bit across his physical hood. In a corner, he found a few lines of scribbled writing. The ink was dark red, almost russety, uneven in color as if Katie had been working with a limited amount… using his olfactory sensors, he stared, eyes wide at the blood-written letters.

"Well?" Hound prodded gently, standing on tip-toe to peer over Jazz's holographic shoulder.

Jazz snapped out of it – really, what else did she have to write with? – and read the neat script out loud. "'_Not much time. Must be brief. Caravan of five cars; we're in the gray semi. Looks like Prime. Others: Yellow, gray, white, red. Semi is the leader. Maggie and I are in him'_. The rest is a map, I think."

True, the map was crudely drawn in what looked like a cross between chalk, blood, and what Jazz guessed from his scans was water. It produced an odd sort of ink, but it worked well enough. Comparing the map to the one he found on the internet, Jazz found that it was a very basic one, drawn by someone who doesn't have a good idea of where they were going, just where it was. Katie's map sported an X near the bottom left hand corner with a thick, squiggly line that went across the page to the middle of the paper. It ended in a jagged circle that was labeled as "Valley of Fire State Park". The line squiggled on, and next ended in a triangle labeled "Canyonlands National Park". Another squiggle led upward further to end in a crude drawing of a tree labeled "Sawtooth National Forest". There was a dotted line that led back behind the X to the target labeled "Tranquility".

Jazz frowned then noticed the scribbled notes in an area of the paper the "map" hadn't taken up. He read them silently to himself. In the top left hand corner read _'Not-so-secret bases'_. Closer to the map itself was _'Taken from talks with Thundercracker and Skywarp'_. Close to the squiggly between the jagged circle and triangle was _'Moving bases every two days_'. Near the crude tree was '_Ultimatum is over'_. In the center of the map, it read '_They won't take us by air; they'll take us by land. Why, I don't know, but they feel they should. I think it's because the cars and stuff have a better defense than the fliers'_.

Armonie looked up at Jazz's hologram. "Hound, call Bluestreak and tell him what's going on. The rest of you, get ready to move out." He ordered. Within seconds, Hot Rod, Mirage, and Hound's holograms were gone, and their engines were running. Snowy had appeared and jumped into Jazz's front seat just as he made his hologram disappear. Armonie clambered into Hot Rod as Hound finished filling in the gunner. "Let's go, then!"

Jazz couldn't hide the eager rumble in his voice and engine, but was relieved when he heard a similar noise coming from the rest of the Autobots with him. Driving out of the rest stop, they sped off.


	26. Barricade

**-o- sorry it took so long. I had homework to do, then my step dad had a dentist appointment so he dragged me along so we could eat out at Ala Moana with my mom. ((sigh)) I just got back a little while ago and finished up this chapter. :)**

* * *

For once, the caravan of three cars was silent. The red and gold Lamborghinis didn't race each other or bicker, and the dark blue and white Viper merely sped down the highway. Each thought of something else, but they weren't that far off from each other's thought process. 

What would happen if they couldn't find Katie and Maggie? What if the Autobots caught up with them? Or the Decepticons found them?

They were drawn from their musings at the sound of a police siren. Bluestreak checked his speedometer and found that they were well over the speed limit. A quick scan behind him proved that the car following was an interstate police officer.

'_Blue? Shall we pull over or keep going?_' Sideswipe asked via comm.

Bluestreak's engine growled. _'Keep going; I don't want to waste any time. Keep going at this speed and we should outdistance him.'_

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were silent but followed his suggestion. The siren continued to blare behind them, even after a good while of driving down the lonely interstate.

'_Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak, you three stop_ right now.' There was total silence over the comm. system. Bluestreak flashed his brake lights in a brief warning before slamming on his breaks and turning smoothly to face the interstate police car, not caring that he was now in the middle of the road. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker took up flanking positions beside him, eyeing the car warily.

'_Prowl?'_ Sideswipe ventured and was rewarded with an irritated growl from the police car.

'_What are you _doing_? You do realize how fast you were going, right?'_ As he spoke, a rather young brown-haired officer stepped out.

Bluestreak's engine roared, startling the other Autobot as well as the officer. "I don't have _time_ for this, Prowl." He growled. "My partner was taken by the Decepticons and if I don't get there soon, then something bad could happen to her."

"That doesn't mean you can just go breaking the speed limit." Prowl argued back as the officer crossed her arms across her chest. It was obvious that she knew about Prowl, and that she wasn't about to do anything about the argument brewing between the four.

Bluestreak growled and spinning, shot out of there. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe remained, engines idling, watching their dark blue comrade speed away. "I suppose you wouldn't really understand," Sunstreaker said quietly. "Blue's hurtin', Prowl, and so is Jazz. They aren't the same bots they were when they were with their charges."

Prowl was silent, but it was his partner who spoke up. "Prowl, let's give 'em an escort." She suggested. She looked over at Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. "We can catch up to your friend and you can tell us what happened."

Prowl hesitated, but when she prodded him some more, he gave in. Immediately Sunstreaker and Sideswipe sped of, not caring if Prowl kept up or not.

-

Prowl's partner, who introduced herself as Jordan – was sympathetic when they finally caught up to Bluestreak who looked to be sulking on the side of the road. Sideswipe nudged him gently and they continued their way, following the directions from the internet to get to Las Vegas.

'_Hound called.'_ Bluestreak said after Sideswipe had filled Prowl and Jordan in. _'He said that Katie left a message for Jazz at the rest stop they were just at. According to the message, they're heading to the Valley of Fire State Park near Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. The Stunticons are the ones taking Katie and Maggie, but they don't know about the rest of the Decepticons.'_

'_Which route are they on?'_ Sunstreaker asked eagerly.

'_Route?'_ Prowl echoed, confused.

'_They have the shortest.'_ Bluestreak replied. _'However, I think Barricade may be on this one.'_

Sideswipe revved his engine as eagerly as his brother. 'Yes!'

'_It would be unwise to engage in combat with a Decepticon like Barricade._' Prowl admonished gently.

'_We outnumber him three to one, Prowlie.'_ Sunstreaker pointed out, ignoring the angry rev of the police car's engine at being called "Prowlie". _'Four including you if you choose to join in.'_

'_Speak of the devil._' Sideswipe said cheerfully.

'_How shall we go about this? Charge in, or circle around for him?'_ Sunstreaker asked, revving his engine eagerly.

'_Get rid of his communication systems – including Frenzy's – as fast as possible.' _Bluestreak replied. _'We can't have them knowing that there are Autobots on their trail.'_

"_Shall we hail them on the police frequency?"_ Jordan asked through Prowl's speakers.

'_Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Bluestreak, speed past him. Jordan and I will follow and pretend that we're chasing you three down. We'll call for backup from him, and he just might help, no doubt wanting to do you harm. Bluestreak, do you think you can get a good shot at Frenzy if you see him through the window?'_ Prowl asked.

Everyone could hear the smile in Bluestreak's voice. _'Yes.'_

'_Good. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, once Bluestreak pulls off that shot, don't even look to see if the shot was good; rip Barricade apart.'_

'_With pleasure.'_ Sunstreaker revved his engine eagerly.

The signal was given and with Sunstreaker in the lead and Bluestreak bringing up the rear of "speeding" cars, they tore off. Prowl waited a moment before flicking his sirens on and speeding after them. Jordan, while pretending to drive her partner, called for backup over the police radio.

It worked; as Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Bluestreak breezed past the evil police car of doom – as Katie and Maggie had gotten to calling him – Frenzy had transformed and was jumping eagerly on the seats. Barricade rumbled as Bluestreak's taillights passed inches from his front grille. As they began to pull away, he turned on his sirens and chased after them, Prowl just behind the Decepticon.

'_Now!_' Bluestreak braked and transforming, turned and pulled out his rifle. He squeezed off two quick shots at Frenzy before having to stop or risk hitting the twins who leapt at Barricade with a roar.

-

Jazz listened to the report from Bluestreak, idling at the stoplight with Mirage, Hot Rod, and Hound behind him. He could tell they were listening in too, but not being all-out warriors, they weren't bloodthirsty like the twins.

'_Is anyone injured?_' Jazz asked when the gunner was finished.

'_Sunny and Sides are a bit banged up, but not too bad. Prowl and I are uninjured.'_ Was the reply.

"_That's good."_ Armonie said from Hot Rod's cab.

'_We should give Optimus and the others a heads-up. Who wants to do the honors?' _

'_I'll do it,'_ Prowl's steady voice replied, and inwardly, Jazz smiled. It was good to have tactician on the team. '_Shall I tell him about the bases too?'_

'_That's a good idea.' _Mirage murmured as the light changed to green. 'Giving him an idea of the number of Decepticons Katie counted for us won't be unwelcome, I wouldn't think.'

Sunstreaker snorted. _'That doesn't mean he'll be any happier about us runnin' away, though.'_

_

* * *

_

**I was a bit stuck near the end, but I muddled through. As I finished, I came to a realization or four.**

**1) All of the humans partnered to the 'bots that are of my own creation are female. O.o  
- When I came to Jordan, I was going with a gut feeling like I did with Katie and Armonie. I wanted a girl with a boy's name, and then I came to this realization. I think a good explanation for this would have to be something about how I think; I couldn't think of the 'bots being that close to a guy the way Jazz, Maggie, and Armonie are close to their guardians. **

**2) I'm going rather slow on this. -.-;;  
-Yeah, I just realized this now. Starting next chapter, I'll try and lengthen them up a bit and finish the story, though how it'll end, I'm not sure. Anyone want some romance? I could use some practice in that genre, but I don't really have a reason to write because I don't have a boyfriend or anyone I care about in a romantic fashion. . . Oookay then. Getting off this subject...**

**3) For Halloween, I wanna be Zorro.  
-_No_ idea how this story brought that thought to me, but it did. I'm gonna dress up as Zorro and go to school and see if my friends recognize me. ;)**

**4) I either wanna be a jet pilot or an engineer when I go to college.  
-O.o Once more, I don't know _how_ I got this idea from writing the story, but oh well. :)**


	27. Rest

**Okay. I got home late today and had a pile of homework to do, so sorry it's late. Again. **

**Last chapter, I asked if anyone wanted some romance and (originally) got two responses: No, and yes, between Katie and Jazz. So... anyone wanna vote? Anyone who wants to vote has about two days to do so. **

* * *

"Optimus, there's a message for you." Bumblebee said, trotting quickly over to his leader. "He says it's urgent, but we don't know who he is." 

The massive leader followed quickly after the smaller mech, nearly running to the control room. There was no picture lighting up the screen, but the only proof that Optimus had at the moment was Bumblebee's word, and the fact that Ironhide was sitting at the console, talking almost cheerily with whoever was on the other line. Upon seeing his commanding officer, the weapons specialist stood and walked aside, saluting. "Prime's here, Prowl."

There was silence on the other line for a moment_. "Optimus?"_

"Prowl, is that you?" Optimus asked hopefully.

He could hear the slight smile behind the other's voice. _"Yes, it's me, Optimus. I have some news for you from Jazz and Bluestreak."_

"Jazz and – you've seen them?" Ironhide demanded.

"_I've done more than see them_," Prowl replied as calm as ever. _"Right now I'm behind Sunstreaker on the way to the Valley of Fire State Park in Las Vegas. Jazz, Hound, Mirage, and Hot Rod are on a different route than we are, but we should get there within a few hours of each other. I volunteered to relay the information they needed to give you."_

"What information is that?" Optimus asked with a pointed look at Ironhide who grumbled and put his cannons away.

"_Jazz says that Katie left them a note at a rest stop she had stopped by. They're in Motormaster, and with the Stunticons. Katie drew them a map that told them where the Decepticon bases are and that she had gotten them from talking with Skywarp and Thundercracker."_ Prowl hesitated_. "The first is in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. After that is Canyonlands National Park in Utah followed by Sawtooth National Forest in Idaho. The Decepticons, according to Katie's information, move bases every two days, and that when they get to Sawtooth National Forest, the ultimatum will be over."_

"It makes sense to have bases in the middle of nowhere." Ironhide pointed out. "But it's cursed hard to get there when you're transformation is a car."

"_That is a sentiment echoed by the twins, believe me,"_ Prowl replied dryly. _"They want to know what you will do."_

Optimus was silent for a moment, thinking. "I'll send the Aerialbots out to scout the parks to get a feel for it. They should get there faster than you, so when you get there, contact them." he said at last. "Get a feel for the area and report back when you know where the base is. If you can, find out how many Decepticons there are and report that back too."

"_Yes, sir. I'll relay that on to the others. Prowl out."_

"Are you serious? Are you just gonna let them run around like that without your orders?" Ironhide thundered as Ratchet walked in.

Optimus sighed. "They'll get a rather stern reprimand when they get back, but their actions are justified; they aren't harming any humans, and they're protecting their charges which they swore to protect." He pointed out wearily.

"Eventually you would've sent out a search party to find the Decepticons; Jazz and Bluestreak just saved you time, not to mention they're likely going to be fiercer than usual." Ratchet added. "It also saved me sedatives for them as well as the cat."

"Cat?" Bumblebee echoed.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "Did you really not notice Snowy walking around? He's disappeared along with a little more than half the flock of finches."

"Good riddance." Ironhide grumbled and Bumblebee chuckled.

"You're just mad at Snowy for using you as a tree." He teased, ducking the weapon specialist's punch and running as he roared and chased after him.

-

Every once in a while, Jazz stopped to let Snowy do his business. He also let the finches out to fly around a bit, knowing that they wouldn't stray very far. Occasionally (meaning one in three rest stops) they brought back a coil of silvery material or brown hair which Jazz took as a sign that Katie was leaving them a trail of bread crumbs like in _Hansel and Gretel_.

It heartened him to see that she was well enough to leave things behind for them to follow. As the chase wore on, even the finches and Snowy became eager to find Katie, more so than when they had started off.

Prowl comm.ed them briefly to relay them what Optimus had asked him to. True to their leader's word, a formation of five jets flew overhead a few hours later, spinning around to waggle their wings at them in greeting before zooming off again.

After a few hours of driving hard, they reached Las Vegas, and then zoomed through, finding the road that led to the national park they were looking for. Bluestreak, Sunstreaker, Prowl, and Sideswipe met up with them and fell easily into formation behind Jazz.

A few hours saw them in an abandoned parking lot near the park. They hadn't caught up with Motormaster and the Stunticons, but that was okay; they knew they were on the right track thanks to the little hints Katie left for them.

The jets they had glimpsed earlier had landed nearby, far enough to be inconspicuous, but close enough to talk via comm. system.

'_From what we saw, there were at least three Seekers on patrol in the skies at all times. They looked like Thrust, Ramjet, and Dirge, but we couldn't confirm it without going within sensor range.'_ Silverbolt reported.

'_Barricade is out of commission for good, along with Frenzy.'_ Bluestreak said, beginning his report. _'Shortly before, we met up with Prowl and his partner Jordan. They decided to accompany us, though how far, I don't know.'_

Jordan, who sat on Prowl's hood, shrugged. "As long as you'll have us, I guess."

"It'll be nice to have another human to talk to." Armonie chuckled from her perch on Hot Rod. "Even nicer that it's a girl."

'_So where is the base?'_ Prowl asked pointedly.

'_Right in the middle of what the humans call the Valley of Fire State Park_.' Slingshot piped up. _'They buried themselves into the mountain in a few caves, but aside from that, we couldn't tell due to the patrols.'_

'_Well, Prowl? Any ideas?_' Jazz asked as Snowy sat purring on his hood, green eyes half-lidded. He was eager to rush into battle after Katie – was this what Sunny and Sides felt whenever they ran into battle? – but he restrained himself. If he did rush into battle, what good would it do? It would just be him against the Decepticons, and what good would that be for Katie?

'_Tomorrow we'll spend time looking around their base. If we can, let's get the finches and Snowy inside,'_ Bluestreak piped up. _'He's smart enough to know to dodge laser blasts.'_

Sideswipe revved his engine eagerly, not doubting Snowy's intelligence unlike the others who didn't know him. 'Then he'd know where Katie and Maggie are, and how to get in and out!'

'_Only if he's willing,'_ Jazz pointed out. Immediately, everyone's sensors were on him. Snowy watched them all with half-lidded green eyes, looking for all the world like he knew something they didn't.


	28. Snowy

**Okay. Early day today, plus no homeowrk, equals lots of time to work on story. :) Tonight, however, is homecoming game, so I'll be going to that, but I'll get started on the next chapter between now and the time we gotta leave. :)**

**Here goes the voting:  
Yes to romance (JazzxKatie) : 3  
No to romance (keep them friends) : 2**

**So... yes. Yes is winning. However, I think this story is long enough, so for those who do want romance, I'll write a little epiloge-ish story. It'll probably be called "Come What May" or something like that. :)**

* * *

The Decepticons weren't unbearably cruel to her, yet they were hardly welcoming. Katie and Maggie were given enough food to stay alive, and enough exercise as well. Now they knew what lab rats felt like.

Little by little, Katie convinced Thundercracker to let them out more often, pointing out rather bluntly that unless the Autobots managed to find a way to the base, they couldn't go anywhere, not with miles of desert out there.

While Thundercracker didn't let them wander around the base freely, he did take them around once they arrived so they could stretch their legs and look around. He introduced them – at a safe distance, of course – to Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, Motormaster and the other Stunticons, as well as Rumble, Ravage, and Soundwave. Starscream and Skywarp they already knew, but the only ones they couldn't actually see were the Constsructicons and Megatron.

Thundercracker didn't say much about them, but he did say that Megatron on a rampage was likely the last thing they wanted to see. Not to mention the last thing they'd ever see, but it didn't make much of a difference anyway.

Ravage and Rumble, being the closest to their size, was usually around their enclosure a lot, though Ravage was the only one who entered. He was a large black puma, his shoulders level with their chests. He didn't care too much for them, but he respected them to some degree, enough to greet them with a nod whenever their eyes met.

Soundwave usually sent Ravage or Rumble whenever Thundercracker took them around, and today was no exception; Ravage padded along beside the dark jet on the way back to their enclosure.

They were crossing the control room (however primitive it was, it did serve its purpose now matter how underused it was) when an unusual sight caused the navy blue jet to stop.

An unusually large domestic gray tabby cat was twining around Soundwave's midnight-blue ankles, rubbing his face along the cool metal. Thundercracker didn't notice that Katie and Maggie had frozen in his hand, too busy hiding a laugh from the midnight-blue stealth bomber.

Just as Starscream came into the room, the cat had the nerve to mew endearingly up at the stealth bomber who sort of glared down at it. Ignoring the red-visored stare directed its way, the tabby continued to wind around his ankles before stopping in front of him. It mewed again, tapping a soft paw against his foot, green eyes wide and pleading.

Soundwave was silent, but Starscream wasn't. He shrieked for the stealth bomber to destroy the thing before stopping in mid-word when he saw the little black cylinder hanging from his shoulder.

"What is that?" Ravage stalked up to Snowy and looked down at the furry cat who seemed to glare up at him. Ravage lowered his head to look closer at the cylinder. Snowy's ears flattened, but he held still, even touching noses with Ravage, much to everyone's surprise.

"Human portable video camera." Soundwave said in his usual monotone.

"Humans, eh? You sure it's not an Autobot camera?" Starscream asked, picking up the now-hissing cat between two fingers.

"Positive."

Starscream smirked. "Let it go around if it likes. The humans could use a good scare." With that, he shoved the cat into Katie's arms and walked away.

That done, Thundercracker and Ravage took them back to their enclosure, putting them in and covering it once more. Now that she was sitting down, Snowy stood on his hind legs, placing his forelegs on her chest and rubbed his head happily against her face, purring loud enough that Maggie who sat a few feet away could hear.

"What's he doing here?" Maggie asked in a whisper.

Katie smiled. "Bringing the Autobots." She whispered back.

She pulled out a small slip of paper she had hidden in the corner of their enclosure, and using another shard of metal, cut a ribbon-thin bit of her skirt off. The grime and dirt covering the shiny material helped make it blend in with Snowy's fur. Tying the slip of paper to Snowy's collar was easy, and so was cutting the rest of the impromptu ribbon off so that it didn't hang or draw attention. "Go, Snowy." She whispered, kissing the top of her cat's head. Standing, she lifted the corner of the distorted glass, enough so that Snowy could squeeze through.

Dropping silently to the table, Snowy scaled easily down to the floor, and tail raised, trotted out of the base, ignoring the snickers and jeers he got as he did so. It didn't matter to him; he'd found his friend, and that was all that mattered. That and getting the message she tied to his collar to her other friends.

Tail held high, he found the patrol car he was looking for, and trotted over. He tapped the door twice and it opened without the help of the female officer inside. With a _mrr_, he hopped in, relaxing slightly now that he was out of the pressing heat of the desert, his pads on soft, cool leather.

The car started and pulled out smoothly, driving quickly down the road. Only when they were far from the base, did Snowy begin to fully relax, and he relaxed further when Jazz came into view beside them.

The police car stopped at their impromptu base of operations – a.k.a an abandoned parking lot – and Snowy hopped out, walking to Jazz who turned on his hologram and knelt next to the cat to retrieve the camera.

Finding the note, he untied it as well and opened it as Jordan walked out of Prowl's cab and over to him while Prowl's hologram formed next to his physical body.

Jazz tugged the note free and opened it gently. The paper was brown, and using white chalk, Katie had drawn sharp lines, boxes, and corners. It took Jazz a while to realize that it was a map of the base, not some abstract art that Katie had started to draw.

In one corner was a rather lengthy list of names that Katie knew of: Constructicons, Stunticons, Skywarp, Thundercracker, Starscream, Ravage, Rumble, Soundwave, Barricade, Thrust, Ramjet, Dirge, and Frenzy.

"We've got a map of their base, thanks to Katie." Jazz said when Bluestreak and Mirage had come back from circling the base. "It's a bit simple, but it's useable."

Mirage looked at the map in his hands, running his hand through his hologram's hair, a habit he had picked up recently from the humans. "I think I can get in and out with them."

Jazz nodded. "Tonight, then?" He asked as Prowl peered over his shoulder at the map.

"What about a diversion? According to Katie and Maggie's map, they're in the middle of the base, and that there are four entrances. What if we close three of them in, leave the fourth for Mirage, Katie, and Maggie, and blow the thing sky high?" Sideswipe suggested.

"That would be unfortunate for any humans nearby." Prowl replied. "We take out the patrol first, then we go in."

Snowy watched, green eyes alight as plans were made to rescue his human. It was cursed foolish of her to go off on her own like that, but he knew that it wasn't her fault, nor Jazz's.

For one of those large metal creatures, he was okay in Snowy's book. Ratchet was nice, and so was Wheeljack, so long as he didn't poke and prod him too much. Ironhide was okay, despite throwing threats at him. Snowy approved of all of those he had met at the base, and some he hadn't, like Prowl and Jordan.

The only ones he had disapproved of was the mean ones, like the one who had picked him up awkwardly between two fingers.

Snowy was Katie's guardian, and didn't mind too much about having to stay at the base. But when she was taken, he was furious. Not at Jazz; both guarded Katie fiercely, but in different ways, and he understood that the silver car was beating himself up over what happened to the human he had come to care about. Snowy guarded Katie against humans, against those who stabbed her in the back, those that displeased her and made the wound in her heart open and bleed anew. Jazz, however, protected her against more of his kind that wished her harm, things Snowy wouldn't stand a chance against.

So yes. Even if Snowy had been there to protect Katie, he knew that only Jazz could care for her properly when it came to the rest of his kind. He could accept that, but what he _couldn't_ accept was that they weren't doing anything when she was taken.

Now, Jazz had gone and chased after her. Snowy couldn't understand why it was such a big deal, but it made his respect for Jazz rise. One, he went after her when others did not, two, he felt that it was his duty to right his wrong (not that he really _did _do anything wrong) and get her back, and three, that he had gone when he knew he would get in trouble for it.

Snowy knew trouble; he had been a very troublesome kitten when Aldrin had taken him home to Katie. He was klutzy and curious, sticking his nose into all sorts of things that resulted in broken class, porcelain, or some other sort of thing. Aldrin would begin to get angry, but Katie would stop him and gently pick him up. She petted him and soothed his fears, then showed him what he did wrong.

At one point in his life, Aldrin had wanted to get rid of him, saying that he was too much of a handful, and that he had learned habits because he hadn't been disciplined right. Katie had stoutly stood in front of him while he curled up in a gangly ball of bridled fur.

He didn't understand the signs she made to Aldrin, but apparently it had been in his defense, for the larger human and stopped his advance. Katie had turned and gently picked him up, petting to him and making odd soothing noises. For that, Snowy felt he owed her. She cared devoutly for the lanky cat, and treated him as her equal when he was treated differently by others.

Aldrin had left a little while later and Snowy was happy, for it meant that he didn't need to worry about straying too far from Katie. Snowy was smart; no two ways around it. He also cared about Katie. So did Jazz, and to Snowy, it was blatantly obvious, as obvious as the whiskers on his face.

Would they get Katie back? Snowy had no doubt that they would try their very best to get her back. Even if they died; the tabby could practically smell how determined they were to get her back. That made them friends in Snowy's book, and if they didn't get her back and were massacred? Well, they'd have died an honorary death, at least to him.

But they weren't going to die. Snowy knew that as well as he knew the length of his claws. They _would_ get Katie back, and _no one_ would die.

At least, Snowy hoped.

* * *

**Okay, I know I said a few chapters back that Aldrin hadn't paid much attention to his daughter, but just after he gave her Snowy, he was renovating his house. Of course, Katie knew this, but Snowy didn't, or he didn't understand. He stayed for about a week, then left after the renovations were finished. :) Snowy, of course, wasn't happy. ;)**


	29. Rescue

**Now it starts to wind down. Whoo. **

**I'll see if I can finish it today, but if not, it'll be over tomorrow and I'll get to working on 'Come What May' for those who wanted romance. :)**

* * *

At dusk, they sent a message to Optimus and got ready.

The first part in their plan was to cover up bright paint jobs. A water spigot in the parking lot proved helpful, and the humans turned it on in a bucket of dirt, creating a thick mud which they spread generously over white stripes and silver paint. Prowl, who could pass as Barricade from high above, would go to the park and get all the humans out with Jordan. Hound would go with him until he was needed, pretending to be the park ranger.

The jets weren't coated with mud, much to their relief; at the speed they fly it'd just crumble and fall off in a matter of seconds. Jazz and Bluestreak grumbled good-naturedly, and Mirage merely sighed, but they knew it was for the best.

They had to be very careful with what they did, and they had to communicate with each other frequently. Thanks to Katie's map, they could have an idea where each other would be. Mirage would go, under cover of invisibility, toward where Katie and Maggie were being held, in the center of the base. Jazz and Bluestreak would follow him, though not go all the way; they'd split off to plant charges.

Of course, this all came after getting rid of Dirge, Ramjet, and Thrust circling above, and getting all the humans out.

Right when the sun disappeared completely from the sky, smudging it with rich purples, oranges, reds, and yellows, the Aerialbots took off. Prowl and Hound followed five minutes later, Jordan safely in her guardian's cab and a holographic driver in Hound's to the park. It was unlikely that there would be any humans, but they _had_ to check.

That left Mirage, Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, Jazz, Hot Rod, Armonie, Snowy, and the finches to idle in the parking lot and wait for their signal.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe's paint remained bright to draw attention to themselves. The Decepticons would likely spot them first and go after them. The twins and Hot Rod were to occupy the Decepticon warriors for a while once Jazz and Bluestreak were in the base.

There was the problem that with the Stunticons and Constructicons, they were vastly outnumbered. Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Hot Rod would wait outside while Jazz, Bluestreak, and Mirage went inside and sealed any doors they didn't need. If they managed to seal all the doors and crack the code in the comm. room before the rest of the Decepticons were warned or woke up, they'd come inside and help to set the charges in strategic areas of the base.

'_Ramjet, Dirge, and Thrust down.'_ Silverbolt comm.ed to them. _'Never knew what hit 'em.'_ He added smugly.

'_Good work, guys. Stay above and let us know if more Decepticons are on their way. If any try to escape, you know what to do.'_ Jazz said, beginning to drive down the long road.

'_Yes sir. Silverbolt out.'_

Not one minute later, Prowl comm.ed. '_No humans in the area.'_

'_Thanks, Prowlie._' Before the police car could respond, Jazz cut the line with a chortle and signaled to his group.

Gunning it, the rest of their small band made it to the base in record time. Transforming quickly, the twins, Hot Rod, and Armonie waited outside while Snowy, the finches, Jazz, Bluestreak, and Mirage crept silently inside.

Their first stop was the communications room. At the control panel, Jazz looked it over before pressing a few buttons; the blast doors over the individual quarters slid shut. Mirage looked around to get his bearings and nodding to Jazz and Bluestreak, turned invisible and crept down the halls.

'_Blast doors down. Come on in.'_ Jazz commed to his waiting team outside who came in. Jazz and Bluestreak took out the charges and distributed them amongst each other. Once they had their charges,

Jazz and Bluestreak split as well, ghosting down the halls, arms loaded with charges. Here and there, Jazz stopped to place a charge on the wall or ceiling, arming it and checking the remote detonator. Assured it would work, he moved on.

Once he had put all the charges where they had planned for him, he checked on the others. Bluestreak was done and creeping back out; Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had finished a few minutes ago and were already outside. Armonie and Hot Rod called to say that they were nearly finished, planting the last one near the third entrance before leaving.

'_Jazz,'_ Mirage sounded hesitant. _'I've found where they've been keeping Katie and Maggie, but they're not inside it. There are signs that they were taken recently.'_

Jazz was silent for a moment. _'I'm on my way.'_ He comm.ed back, beginning to trot down the halls. He found Mirage a minute later, standing in the middle of the small room, peering down at the box on the small table in the middle of the room. Rumble lay on the ground nearby, piled unceremoniously on Ravage who still twitched slightly.

"**Looking for something?"** they both whirled at the unexpected voice to find Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp standing in the doorway. Starscream was in front, and Thundercracker held Katie while Skywarp held Maggie.

'_Sunny, Sides, we've got the three Seekers cornering us. I suggest you come quickly.'_ Jazz comm.ed on the Autobot frequency so the Decepticons wouldn't overhear.

'_Where are you?'_ Sunstreaker asked.

'_Where Maggie and Katie were kept. Be careful, though; Skywarp and Thundercracker have them in their hands.'_ He warned to receive a growl in reply.

"**Not a step forward, Autobots. Humans can be so…fragile."** Starscream practically purred, motioning at the two humans held tightly in the Seekers' fists. He could say nothing more, for suddenly the twins were there, leaping with a roar at them, tackling them to the ground. Mirage was there in a flash, wrenching Maggie out of the dark jet's grasp. Starscream fell in a heap beneath Sunstreaker who proceeded to beat the slag out of him. Sideswipe did the same to Skywarp before he had a chance to teleport away.

That left Thundercracker against a very pissed but wary Jazz.

Katie's eyes narrowed. Jazz was paying too much attention to the fact that she was able to be squashed in the jet's hand, but if he got that fear out of his system… Steeling herself, she flopped limply over in the jet's grip, faking death.

Thundercracker, who could feel her pulse against his armor, looked down at her in surprise, obviously wondering why she was faking. Jazz, who couldn't feel her pulse or know she was faking, leapt at Thundercracker who dropped Katie on a convenient stool to defend himself.

The three-foot drop jolted her and slammed her head hard on the cold metal, stunning her momentarily. Then a large, warm body was over hers, pawing at her collar bone and licking her cheek with a rough tongue.

"Ow." Katie croaked, coughing and feeling her bruises smart with the movement.

"Mrr!" the sound from Snowy caught Jazz's attention from the now-incapacitated Thundercracker.

"Kaite!" gently, she was picked up and unable to summon the strength to sit up, Katie flopped weakly against his hand.

"Hey, Jazz." She croaked out. "I'm tired."

Jazz smiled tightly but was immensely relieved. "Rest, then. We'll be out of here soon."

Katie blinked lethargically. "Okay." Transforming, he placed her gently in his cab and sped out of the base, his team holding Maggie and Snowy close behind him. They sped out, detonating the base once they were far enough away.

They had no way of knowing if all the Decepticons in the base were destroyed, but at the moment, they didn't care; their original task was accomplished and they were going home.

* * *

**The last line reminds me of a song I learned in elementary...something in Swahili. I can sing it, but I don't think I can spell it out... The translation was "Oh, we are marching for freedom/ We're going home/ Our hearts are filled with song/ so sing out strong". :) I was rather fond of that song for a few years. And then there was the one about the bird in the tree...**

**Okay, I'll shut up now. :)**


	30. Medal

**Okay. Last chapter. ((rolls eyes)) Finally.**

* * *

White. Pure, bright, _irritating_ white. Damn hospital lights.

Katie opened her eyes little by little and belatedly realized that she was being examined by gentle but brisk hands. She winced and inhaled sharply as a bruise smarted then grimaced as she got a great big whiff of hospital-smell.

"Good. You're awake. Did that hurt?" the nurse asked kindly while Katie glared half-heartedly at her; she was only doing her job, after all.

_No._ _Freakin'_. _Duh_. "Not too much." She said out loud. "It stings a little." She amended as the nurse raised a ginger-colored eyebrow at her response.

"You have two cracked rib and assorted bruises all over your body." The nurse said gently, patting her hand. "You'll have to stay in the hospital for a little while and take it easy. You should be able to go home by the end of the day. Your friend who brought you in said you took a tumble down a rocky slope. You're certainly very lucky that it's only a few bruises." She smiled. "If you need anything, just call me. My name's Annie."

Annie walked to the door and poked her head out before walking back to Katie's bed. "Do you feel up to a few guests? Your friends are outside."

Katie smiled. "Yeah, I'd like to see them."

Nurse Annie smile again and walked to the door, beckoning to someone in the hallway. "Not too long, now. She needs some rest." With that, she smiled once more at Katie and left.

Jazz poked his head into the room and smiled in a mixture of joy and relief, walking quickly in to sit beside his charge. Katie could tell he wanted to hug her, but didn't want to aggravate her sensitive ribs; he settled for grasping her hand tightly but delicately. "You're awake." He said as two women and a man she didn't know and the twins walked in, all bearing gifts.

"Jeez, Katie. You just got your cast off and already you're back in the hospital." Sideswipe joked, putting the vase of flowers he carried near the window.

"Oh, shut up you overgrown Coke can." Was her retort despite her smile.

"From what I hear, you have a tendency to get into trouble." Katie looked over at the black-haired, dark-eyed, light-skinned woman arranging a vase of roses and daffodils on her bedside table said in a strong Italian accent. Dark eyes met blue-hazel as the other woman, a brown-haired police officer, added her vase to the growing line at the window. The Italian girl smiled slightly. "We've never met, but Jazz and the others have told me a lot about you."

Katie raised an eyebrow at the twins and Jazz who shrugged. "It better have been good," she grumbled in mock irritation, causing the Italian woman and female police officer to laugh. The three holograms she had glared at gave her a look of mock indignation.

"My name is Armonie, but you can call me Army. Hot Rod's my guardian." Katie shook her hand.

"I've heard of Hot Rod, but not a whole lot. Jazz mentioned him in passing, I believe."

The police officer came over and shook her hand. "My name is Jordan, and this is Prowl, my guardian." The icy-blue-eyed police officer introduced as Prowl nodded politely as his charge shook Katie's hand. "We were about to pull over the twins and Blue for speeding on the interstate, but ended up joining them for a glorious rescue and battle."

Armonie rolled her eyes at that while Sideswipe and Sunstreaker snorted. Jazz and Prowl looked sheepish. "Jazz," Katie's eyebrow rose and her guardian looked away innocently. "What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing much," Armonie said in amused but dark sarcasm. "He just blew up a national park."

Katie looked at Jazz and raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that she'd talk to him about that a while later. Jazz smiled sheepishly. "How are you feeling?" Prowl asked and Katie looked over at him

"I hurt a little, but not a whole lot. I can't move too much, though." Something occurred to Katie. "What about Aldrin and Marie?" she asked Jazz whose eyes became hard.

"What about them?" he asked almost stonily.

"Do they know what happened?" Katie clarified. Everyone in the room was silent for a while, not knowing what to say. Only one of her visitors had met Marie face to face, and only three of them had met Aldrin.

"No." Jazz said at last, golden eyes not meeting hers. "They've gone sightseeing in France for some reason or another. When we tried to tell them, they were gone and Aldrin wouldn't answer his phone."

Katie's eyes drooped slightly. "Oh," she said quietly, looking down at her sheets. Her hands clenched and there was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Jazz squeezed her hand gently and she smiled shakily up at him. "I suppose he has better things to do than worry about his errant daughter." If anyone else heard the waver in her voice, they said nothing about it.

"We sent the Aerialbots after them, but they haven't gotten in touch with them." Sideswipe added.

The uncomfortable silence reigned supreme in the room for another few minutes before Jazz spoke. "Katie, you have to be the…the kindest person I have ever met in my life. And I have met a lot of kind people in my life." He said quietly.

Jordan nodded, leaning against the wall. "Jazz told us a little bit about your mother. She beat you and yet you still care for her to some degree."

Katie didn't look up from the sheets, clenching and unclenching her hands as she fought back tears. "Katie," she looked up slowly as the twins came to stand at the foot of her hospital bed. "They are undeserving of your affection," Sunstreaker said firmly. "They do all sorts of things to you that show that they don't care for you as well as they should."

Sideswipe nodded. "If it wasn't for the fact that you actually care for them, we would've stepped on them a long time ago, orders be damned."

Katie looked back down, but didn't argue with them. "I don't deserve friends like you." she said quietly.

"That is where you're wrong." She looked back up to find Prowl, Armonie, and Jordan looking at her this time. "They were worst than anything or anyone I have ever seen." Jordan said, eyes hard. "I looked up your files, and it was horrible what you went through. I agree with Sunstreaker; they weren't deserving of your affection."

"You put yourself down too much," Armonie added, her accent muted slightly. "You helped bring down a base full of Decepticons _and_ survived whatever they did to you. You ignored whatever instincts that told you to shut up and hope to leave us a trail of notes, not to mention cut up your pretty skirt. For that alone, I think you deserve a medal at least."

Jazz, Prowl, Sunstreaker, and Sideswipe looked at each other, and without warning, fizzed out of view, leaving the three women staring after them in surprise.

"What happened to Maggie?" Katie asked at last, looking at the other two in her room.

Armonie shrugged. "A few scratches here and there. She didn't need to go to the hospital for those, but she'll come by, I think."

Jordan looked out the window. "Well, I'm stranded here. Where'd Roddy go?" Armonie went to stand beside Jordan near the window and grimaced.

"I guess he went with them." she grumbled. Turning, she went to sit beside Katie. "So. Tell me a bit about yourself."

Katie blinked. "I thought you said Jazz and the others told you about me." she said, looking down.

Jordan shrugged. "It's one thing to hear it from the source, and another to hear about it from someone else. I'd like to hear what you want to share with us rather than what the Autobots felt like sharing with us when we asked, if you please."

Slowly, Katie looked up at them with a tiny smile. "That makes sense." She said softly. She shifted to get more comfortable and began her story.

A few minutes later, Annie came back and told Katie to rest while banishing her company with an apologetic smile. Katie merely blinked and waving to her new friends, obeyed the nurse's order and went to sleep.

-

"Think she'll notice it?" a soft voice asked above her.

"Of course; the metal's cold and you're putting it on her _neck_." A familiar Italian-accented voice retorted quietly.

"I think it also helps that she's awake." Katie murmured, cracking an eye open to find Jazz and Armonie standing above her. She opened the other eye and blinked them quickly to get them adjusted to the light. "What's this?" she asked, pushing herself into a sitting position and bringing a hand to touch the small pendant placed gently on her neck.

Jazz's hologram smiled. "A gift from us all." By "us all" Katie assumed the Autobots and their charges. She picked up the pendant and gawped at it.

It was a simple enough design, though elegant at the same time. The center of the pendant was the size of her thumbnail, a thin piece of silver in the shape of the Autobot insignia with a thin gold trim on the edges. Around it was a lacy sort of vine-like design that gave it an elegant look.

"Ratchet and Wheeljack made it." Jazz said smugly, watching as she rubbed a thumb over the smooth metal. "Maggie, Army, Jordan, Mikaela, and Sam have one too, though not quite like yours."

Katie continued to stare, though this time at Jazz and Armonie who looked rather amused. "What's the matter, Snowy got your tongue?" she teased and Katie blinked.

Jazz laughed. "Come on, Katie and get dressed; he's waiting rather impatiently in my cab. Hurry before I have to kick him out for digging his claws into my seats."

* * *

**Okay. Why is it that when I try to write the action scenes, it's short, but when I write the mushy stuff, it's long?! Usually it's the other way around. O.o**

**Okay. I'll get to work on Come What May for those who want JazzxKatie. :)**

**Owari.**


End file.
